10 Easy Ideas to Decorate a Patio and Pool Backyard Haven

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Ready to turn your outdoor space into a personal oasis?  Find some of our favorite ideas to decorate a patio and pool space and create an outdoor living space that feels like your own backyard haven.  

Whether you have a small backyard or a more spacious outdoor area, there are lots of fun and simple ways that you can decorate a patio and pool area.  These simple ideas can help you create a backyard haven that provides comfortable seating, designated space for fun, and a cozy outdoor atmosphere that is a focal point for your home.

Before we dive into the fun it is to decorate a patio and pool, you may want to see how far we’ve come.  Though we have more we want to do, it is truly a blessing to enjoy all of the progress so far.  It doesn’t even feel like the same backyard space!

When we purchased our home, the in-ground pool, itself, was wonderful.  Here in sunny, hot, South Florida, in-ground pools are an invaluable asset to a home!  Thankfully, ours is large and has plenty of space for everyone to play, including lots of fun pool party experiences over the years.  However, the entire space around the pool area was seriously lacking.

The first thing we did was to remove the covered screen.  This opened up the entire pool deck and surrounding pool patio space.

Next, we turned the dirt pile between the detached garage and pool deck into a great lounge area.  With the help of family and friends, we installed square stone pavers and gravel to give the entire space a more finished look and to make the yard area that was so close to the pool usable for a comfortable seating area with a thrifted set of lounge chairs, dining chairs, and a dining table made of teak wood.

Using an existing concrete pad, also beside the detached garage, we added a covered pergola that we still have today.  It was a great clearance find at the end of the summer months that year and we had just the right place to install it!

A few years later, we invested in the pool deck by having it extended on the other end to match up to the end of the house.  This really made the entire pool, patio, and backyard feel much more intentional in the design and also gave us space to add an outdoor living area.  

While the furniture and layout has changed here and there since, the basic purpose and function has remained the same: have adequate space for our family, the kids, and their friends to gather for parties, fun get-togethers, and just family relaxation on the weekends.  

Two years ago, we made another huge investment into the space by having this high-quality pergola built over the patio.  The pergola extends out from the house and is made of super high-quality aluminum that will withstand the Florida elements for many years.  The large size of this covered space has made our outdoor living space and poolside space by our backyard pool even more conducive for relaxation and entertaining.

Slowly, but surely, we add a piece or two here and there to elevate the quality and style.  South Florida weather takes its toll on anything that stays outside all of the time, so investing in high quality pieces is essential for long-term use.  Since these kinds of pieces are expensive, we are adding as we can.  

However, I can finally say that this outdoor space is feeling like a true oasis.  Most of all, the time spent here with my husband and kids is worth every penny of investment we’ve made into making it a space we can all enjoy together!

​How can I make my patio look pretty?

The main elements we will chat about today are what I think of as a basic formula to design and decorate a patio and pool space and turn it into a backyard oasis.  The basic elements here apply equally to smaller backyards and larger ones, an in-ground pool space or above-ground pool, and small or large budgets.

1. Think through the function and purpose of the space, along with how you ultimately want to use it.
2. Consider the possible layouts and get creative with a design that meets your dream purpose.
3. Designate zones of the patio and pool spaces to meet the various functions and needs of your family.
4. Choose outdoor furniture that meets your needs.  If you need to, purchase furniture “by zones” so that you can invest in higher quality pieces.
5. Research landscape design and create a plan that fits your landscape zone while providing a lush backdrop for your backyard oasis.
6. Consider lighting options that meet the need and style of each designated zone.
7. Have fun with accessories to bring visual interest to the outdoor spaces.
8. Set up an outdoor dining area for the whole family to enjoy and to use for entertaining.
9. Show the pool deck some love by sprucing it up if it is old (like we did) OR building one if it is new.
10. Finally, add fun for everyone in the family with pool toys and floats.

10 Easy Ideas to Decorate a Patio and Pool Backyard Haven

1. Easy Ideas to Decorate a Patio and Pool Area #1: Determine the optimal function and purpose for the space.

The first thing to do is to ask yourself, as well as your family, how do you envision using your outdoor spaces?  Have fun dreaming a little about what you want to do in your outdoor space and how it could best be used as a relaxing extension of your home.

For us, our backyard design revolved around the swimming pool.  It is the center of almost every activity that happens out here and almost every summer day that we are home is a pool party!

Since we didn’t have any say in the pool design, as it was added many, many years before we bought the fixer upper home, we have worked with what we had.  That being said, we are so grateful for a private swimming pool to enjoy as a family and for the kids to enjoy with their friends.  The pool is truly a blessing for us!

If you don’t have a pool, that is fine!  You can create an amazing backyard haven.  What are your hobbies and what do you enjoy doing outdoors?  Here are a few ideas to kickstart your brainstorming:

• Enjoy morning coffee with a pretty view.
• Host family and friends for dining al fresco.
• Create a safe play space for your kids.
• Plant a garden or allow room for raised garden beds.
• Soak up some vitamin D on a sunny afternoon.

What else do you want to do in your outdoor space?

Two big things left on my wishlist are to add an outdoor shower (we live just a couple miles from the beach!) and a simple outdoor kitchen!

2. Easy Ideas to Decorate a Patio and Pool Area #2: Determine the layout of your pool patio.

After you have determined the function and purpose of your space, you can start to play around with the layout.  Remember, it is possible that you may create a backyard haven in stages.   That’s okay!  Great things take time.

You still want to know what the end goal is for the layout so that you can elevate your outdoor living space one zone at a time!

Having kids, it was a priority for us to create a comfortable poolside space to supervise all of the fun in the pool.  A couple of years ago, we replaced our thrifted chaise lounges with these beautiful double loungers (similar HERE).  They allow more of us to enjoy the poolside space year round.

Pro Tip:  Once you’ve determined the function and layout, it will be easier to prioritize and focus on one space at a time.

3. Easy Ideas to Decorate a Patio and Pool Area #3: Designate different zones for using your outdoor area.

This leads right into designating different zones to meet the various functions and purposes you have for your outdoor area.  If you have enough room around your pool area, you may want to consider different zones for relaxing, playing, dining, and even a seating area for entertaining.

Depending on the size of your outdoor living space, you may get to decorate a patio and pool area with several different kinds of purposes.  However, you’ll want to focus on a cohesive look, just as you would styling an open concept indoor space.

Here are some possible different zones to decorate a patio and pool area:

• Lounging area with pool loungers
• Comfortable seating area with outdoor sofas
• Outdoor dining table and eating area
• Play space with games and activities
• Fire pit or outdoor fireplace zone
• Hot tub space
• Outdoor kitchen
• Outdoor shower
• Garden zone
• Pool house or zone with storage
• Covered patio for a comfortable place on rainy days or to not get too much sun!

4. Easy Ideas to Decorate a Patio and Pool Area #4: Choose outdoor furniture to meet the quality and budget needs of your space.

As I mentioned, we’ve rotated some different pieces in and out to decorate a patio and pool space.  While you are working toward your optimal backyard oasis, you can enjoy some more affordable ways to add outdoor furniture pieces like clearance sales, thrifting, yard sales, Facebook marketplace, and even the occasional free piece by the side of the road.  Yep, we’ve done them all!

These are great ways to add patio furniture and stay on budget.  As we’ve been able to, we have slowly replaced some pieces with more high-quality furniture pieces that will last us for many, many years because they are better materials for our climate.  

For example, a couple of years ago, we invested in this teak sectional with Sunbrella cushions.  The teak will last for many years with little maintenance, which is a big win for us.  

Whenever possible, I choose Sunbrella fabric for things like cushions that I want to last a long time.  The Sunbrella fabric withstands the elements much better than regular fabric.  It also cleans up more easily.

Pro Tip:  If you have a cushion that is not Sunbrella, THIS fabric spray is a great way to help it last longer!

Investing in the right furniture makes all the difference in how you can decorate a patio and pool area.  

Here are some other kinds of outdoor furniture pieces that you may want to consider for your spaces:

• Lounge chairs
• Outdoor umbrella and stand for a cooler poolside experience
• Outdoor sofas
• Dining table
• Side tables made for outdoor use
• Small coffee table
• Fire feature, such as a fire pit
• Outdoor pool table or ping pong table (we LOVE ours!)
• Outdoor bar cart or serving cart
• Storage for pool toys and accessories

5. Easy Ideas to Decorate a Patio and Pool Area #5: Consider a landscape design that fits your function and dream oasis.

Honestly, as much as I love designing and decorating indoors, outdoor landscape design is SO hard for me!  It is just not something that I have as much knowledge about.  While I know what I love when I see it, I do not have the knowledge and expertise of actual landscape designers to know what grows where, the best ways and locations to plant the different plant and tree varieties, what outdoor plants need full sun versus partial sun, etc.

One of my wishlist items is to hire a landscape designer to come up with some beautiful landscape designs for our backyard.  We had this done for our front yard and then worked to add the designs over time on our own.  Eventually, we will do the same with the surrounding landscape in the backyard!  Remember, I said it all takes time (and money)?!

Just as you carefully consider the outdoor furniture pieces needed to decorate a patio and pool area, you want to consider the equal importance of the outdoor plants, trees, and flowers you’ll use to decorate a patio and pool area too.

Outdoor plants and landscape design can offer beauty to elevate your poolside experience.  At the same time, lush greenery can offer a sense of privacy while carefully chosen flowers can add a pop of color to decorate a patio and pool area.  A potted palm tree can soften the corners of outdoor sofas and hanging planters can add visual interest and decor style to your backyard haven.

Whether you are adding a full-blown landscape design to your entire space or shopping for a few simple plants to spruce up your existing outdoor living space, greenery and flowers are always a good idea to decorate a patio and pool area!  

While our landscape design consists of real outdoor plants, I do have a few faux favorites that are designed for outdoor use.  Faux plants and flowers can be great for covered patio or porches where real flowers and plants may not get enough sun or water to thrive.

Here are a few favorites that I love using around our outdoor spaces

• Faux bougainviliea tree that look very realistic
• Beautiful bougainvillea vines (I use these around the base of my faux outdoor topiaries.)
• Faux outdoor topiaries
• Faux outdoor flowers

6. Easy Ideas to Decorate a Patio and Pool Area #6: Consider lighting to elevate the style of your outdoor living space. 

How to decorate around an outdoor pool?

One of the most important things you can add to decorate a patio and pool area, especially to give it a cozy, inviting style, is to add various lighting elements.  This is something that we are still working on ourselves.  However, the thing that made the biggest impact in our lighting was to add string lights around the pool and pergola.  Not only do the string lights provide a lot of light for the backyard, they just look so pretty and peaceful!

You may also consider overhead lighting, such as outdoor pendant lights.  At the same time, there are a lot of great solar lights available that can be used in other ways, too, such as mounted on the exterior wall of your home or along a fence.  THESE solar lights are what we use in the ground in our front yard.  Eventually, we will add some in the backyard too, once we get more landscaping completed there.

Here are some great options for outdoor lighting in a range of budgets and functions:

• Beautiful rechargeable table lamps (no cords!), comes in different colors
• Floating solar lights for the pool
• Inflatable, light up swan for the pool
• In-ground solar lights
• Up lights to use on plants (great for planters!)

7. Easy Ideas to Decorate a Patio and Pool Area #7: Be creative with accessories and accents!

How to accessorize an outdoor patio?

There are SO many wonderful ways to add accessories and accents when you decorate a patio and pool area.  While this definitely depends on personal preference, there are some basic accessories that are my go to choices to decorate a patio and pool area.

I’ll be the first to admit that when I flip through a pretty magazine, catalog, or blog post of outdoor decor ideas, I want to add ALL the things.  I love how designers turn the outdoor spaces into actual living spaces, complete dishes, pastries, and pretty pitchers of lemonade.  However, the practical aspect of how you decorate a patio and pool area is really the most important thing to consider.

Unless you have lots of extra time to clean and maintain accessories, you may want to consider a more minimalist approach.  Even though I am far from a minimalist in my interior decorating, I have found that sticking to the basics makes it a lot easier for me to maintain a pretty, yet simple, style to decorate a patio and pool area.

Whether you stick to some simple essentials or go all out, accessories and accents are so fun to decorate a patio and pool seating area.  Outdoor decor is a great way to add a pop of color as well as a fun way to add some seasonal decor touches that aren’t expensive.  

Incorporating finishing touches such as outdoor rugs, new pillows, outdoor candles and lanterns, and potted plants are easy ways to give your backyard oasis the look of a boutique hotel pool patio space!  

You can also add a little color or pattern for the different seasons by switching out a simple throw pillow!

Here are some favorite outdoor decor pieces to decorate a patio and pool area:

• Outdoor rugs
• Throw pillow with high-end style
• Pop of color with this pretty throw pillow
• Water feature with this beautiful solar fountain
• Outdoor candles
• High-quality outdoor planters
• Realistic faux outdoor flowers
• Pretty driftwood pineapple for a centerpiece

8. Easy Ideas to Decorate a Patio and Pool Area #8: Create space for outdoor dining and entertaining.

An outdoor dining table and comfortable chairs is the perfect way to bring an inviting, yet functional, style into your backyard oasis.  I love having an outdoor dining table to decorate a patio and pool area.  

It is perfect for summer days when I seem to deliver trays of sandwiches, apple slices, and popsicles to dripping wet kiddos who can’t come inside to eat.  At the same time, having an outdoor dining table makes entertaining even more fun.  

Over on THIS blog post, I share all of my favorite tips for creating an outdoor dining room and even easy table decor ideas to decorate a patio and pool area.  

9. Easy Ideas to Decorate a Patio and Pool Area #9: Pool deck

How do I make my pool area inviting?

How you decorate a patio and pool area, specifically around the pool deck, really depends on how you use your pool.  With very active kids and their friends often playing in and around ours, we like to keep the surrounding deck clear.  

For a touch of decor, we added a trio of beautiful concrete planters and succulents.  These don’t require any irrigation or daily watering to thrive in the Florida weather, so they are a great choice for our pool deck.

Depending on the size of your surrounding deck, you can add a variety of pool decor ideas.  An outdoor umbrella between comfy sun loungers is always a great choice.  We also keep THIS small cabinet to hold the pool toys.  It is so nice to have them put away and out of sight when we want to tidy things up.  THIS cabinet has a high end “Palm Beach” design while being weather-friendly and inexpensive.

Other pool decor may include functional things like a towel rack, pretty pool floats, potted plants and flowers, and the best pool decor of all?  

Family enjoying the space together!  Priceless!  Our family pool days are some of our favorite days together!

10. Easy Ideas to Decorate a Patio and Pool Area #10: Pool floats and toys

A fun swimming pool patio wouldn’t be complete without some great pool floats and pool toys, right?!  I’ll be the first to admit that I don’t always love when the pool is cluttered with an array of colored floats, pool loungers, and toys.  So, I do try to find at least some that blend in with the aesthetic of our outdoor space, a little at least!

Here are a few fun ones that still look pretty in the pool and can add to the overall aesthetic of your swimming pool patio and outdoor space!

• These striped pool tubes come in different colors to match your pool decor
• This extra large pool lounger looks so relaxing and fun!  I have one on order myself!
• These pool floats are my favorite for just floating around and watching the kids play!
• My kids have a lot of fun with this pool basketball set
• A great pool volleyball is always fun too
• These fun floats are an easy way to keep the kids entertained for a long time and are lots of fun!

INSERT IMG OUTDOOR PING PONG TABLE

Having an outdoor space is such a blessing and it is so fun to decorate a patio and pool area.  Whether your pool patio is on the smaller side or you are installing a shallow stock tank pool for summer relaxation or designing a new pool with exciting features like a swim-up bar, they are all fun and contribute to making memories together with family and friends!

You can browse more of my favorite outdoor decor, furniture, and entertaining pieces HERE on my storefront!

Most of all, I hope you have a great time creating a backyard oasis as you decorate a patio and pool area to fit your family’s lifestyle!  Happy decorating!

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