My boyfriend and I spent almost two months touring apartments around Columbus before we could agree on one we both really liked. We finally ended up choosing The Foundry at Jeffrey Park for a few reasons: cost, location, amenities and they were dog-friendly.  The actual apartment is really nice. It’s up-to-date, has lots of natural light, walk-in closet, all that stuff. It’s not the biggest place (we have a one bed/one bath) for two people and a dog, but we make it work. Honestly, the biggest reason we picked this apartment was for the patio. The patio is huge. We both wanted to find a place with a good outdoor space and this was the perfect set up.

It’s a Vibe

I wanted to go with something boho, something cozy, a little romantic and a good place to chill. You know like somewhere you can sit out in the morning with a matcha latte (fave), maybe read a book or meditate with Headspace. But, also somewhere you can spend the night drinking wine and eating dinner with the string lights on. DREAMY, I KNOW.

So once I had my vision and did some online inspo searching (thanks Pinterest & Instagram), I had a pretty good idea of what I wanted it to look like. My boyfriend and I were on the same page for most of the decor too. He actually built the outdoor sofa and chaise lounge. I have no idea how, but he said he just followed a guide online. He bought eleven, eight foot long, 2×4 pieces of wood (like what?). I was so hesitant when he told me that was the plan, but he built the whole thing in less than 24 hours and it came out perfect. You the best, Will!

My Guide to Boho

1. Patterns & Colors: Going with this theme is nice, because  it is super affordable. Since things don’t need to match, we got a lot of our decor on sale and found things that we could piece together, but were not too matchy-matchy. We used bright colors and different patterns to keep a unique aesthetic. If you aren’t into brights, you can use olive greens, mustard yellow and rusty oranges to still get the boho vibe.

2. Global Accents:  When I think of Bohemian, I think worldly and full of life and culture. We added some Buddha statues to our space. It may not always be realistic to travel around the world collecting souvenirs from each country.  Instead, a quick visit to World Market can help you fake the well-traveled feel.

3. Fabrics & Textiles: All about the different textures and keeping things flowy. We covered the wood with mismatching, colorful curtains, instead of painting it. We also added a hanging canopy in the corner.

4. Lights & Plants: Maybe a little basic, but we had to add string lights for our finishing touches. We also wanted greenery. I feel like having lots of plants just puts me in a better mood and feels more welcoming.

Overall, just make it your own. It is all about just mixing different styles together and making it a comfortable place for you. You can have fun with it. It is a cost-effective and easy way to update a space in your home. Since we can only really use our patio for a few months of the year (thanks, Ohio), we didn’t want to put spend too much money on, but still wanted it to be a cool, unique space.

Where To Shop

Will built this planter from the top of an old desk – how he does it, I have no idea. We are using this for a tomato plant and recently added in a basil plant. Both of our Buddha statues are from At Home. We also bought the pink tray, colorful rug and gold side table from there as well. I think the tray was about $7, the rug was only $18 and the side table was on sale for $14.  They have such a good variety of home decor and the best deals. One of my favorite places to shop for affordable home things.

Another store I love for home decor is World Market. The whole store has an eclectic vibe to it, so it was the perfect store to get decor for our patio. We bought all of our pillows from there and we got lucky  when we went because they were having a sale on pillows. I think the plain velvet ones were around $7 and the patterned ones were $15-$20ish. Very affordable.

The canopy was also from World Market. It was one of our “more expensive” items and it was still under $50. We also got our curtains to drape over the wood from here. (TIP: if you sign up for their emails you can get discounts/coupons, we had one for 30% off our entire purchase.)

Anyways, the last thing we needed to get were the cushions, which we ended up getting from Big Lots.

 Also, if you noticed the wine/tequila bottles sticking out of our plants, I can explain. We were going out of town for over a week and didn’t want our plants to die, so Will being the innovator he is, found these self watering spikes from Amazon. They are  pretty neat and ended up working really well/kept our plants alive. We still use them now.  We got our plants from Costco and a local gardening store (deMonye’s Greenhouse).

That’s our patio for ya! Let me know in the comments where you guys shop for home decor + furniture, always looking for new places.