Outdoor Patio Furniture Picks for Stylish and Easy Al Fresco Dining

Hello! It’s Jillian with some ideas on outdoor patio and deck furniture. ‘Tis still the season, so hold on as long as you can! My oldest son starts back to school today so I thought this was an appropriate time to head out to the patio to talk about my outdoor dining space.  A few months ago you saw my red, white, and blue BBQ below, and with it a peek of my patio. I had some friends ask me about patio furniture recently too, so I decided to write a blog post about it for you today!

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When we moved into this house six summers ago, one of the features I loved was this beautiful flagstone patio! At our old house we had no patio and just put a small table and chairs in the corner of the driveway for outdoor dining. So needless to say, we had to make serious furniture purchases to fill this spacious patio up. Actually, this table and the chairs were the first major furniture purchase we made for our new home. I adore them and they have held up very well with no maintenance or repairs needed. We also leave it all outside during the (brutal) winters and it still has held up well. We purchased the patio furniture from McKay’s Furniture since the owners are family friends from Rhode Island where I grew up. The table and chairs can also be found at the links above for those not in the Rhode Island area. The teak bench was a later addition to provide a place for the kids to sit without having to move the heavy chairs. This works out very well, and also created leftover chairs for an additional seating area.

The fire pit was also a fairly new purchase. I love it, and is perfect for use into the fall season to create a cozy ambience and for gathering around to toast marshmallows. I also adore that this fire pit has a flat lid so it can also function as a coffee table, creating another little seating area on this large patio. There is probably room for a third comfy couch seating area too, but let’s be honest–with three young children, ain’t nobody lounging back here right now. Give me a few years and perhaps I will expand the patio furniture selection to include lounge chairs or couches, and maybe even a pina colada machine too while I’m dreaming!

Our patio umbrella is perfect–the stripes and the blue-green color remind me of a beach vacation. It functions to provide some shade to the sunny patio and has held up very well to the sun and the elements. Some other fabulous options I have come up with for you can be found here (I love the gorgeous blue color), here (stripes are a nice touch), and here (you had me at tassels!).

While bulky patio furniture can be tricky to buy online, I have been pleased with my online purchases. You often can find sales later in the summer season too, so it’s a good time to keep your eyes peeled and prepare for next summer. We use the patio usually at least once a day for either lunch or dinner in the summer, and I love how much easier clean-up is when we dine outside! I also keep my tray (similar) handy with outdoor plates, so the table can be set in a jiffy.

Now go forth and spruce up your patio furniture to enjoy dining al fresco while you still can–you’ll be glad you did! From my brick nest to your nest, cheers to holding on dearly to these last days of summer.