When my husband and I first moved into this house, we were already in love with the backyard area. Of all 236 houses we looked at (just kidding, but it felt like that many), this backyard was top 3 hands down. Now, I know what y’all are thinking, “that little space?!” Um, ya, this little space in California is like equivalent to 10 acres back home in Florida, thank you very much.

(Sorry for the quality of these photos…I use my iphone 4s and am a horrible photographer!!)  So upon moving in, I decided two things, 1: We have a patch of grass! We need to celebrate by getting a puppy. 2: We have to have a baller area to relax and chill with friends and family, and said puppy.

Here’s the little brat in the flesh:We call her Olive.

Anyways, I’m kinda frugal, thanks to my mom. (Side note: This is pretty terrible, but we even got a discount on little Olive) She taught me how to thrift, find really great sales, and that if you can’t find exactly what you want, then you make it. Thanks, mom! So when I started perusing patio furniture, I just about fainted at the prices. It took me about 6 months to find the deal I was looking for, but I found it! The catch was that the slipcovers for the certain line I chose were discontinued, so after a few years of avoiding a sewing machine I realized the cold, hard truth: we would meet again. I used this tutorial to sew all TWELVE slipcovers…blah! I chose this one in particular because it seemed super simple and I am able to trick people into thinking I spent a long time on these when in reality it only took me a couple hours 🙂After that was finished I added a rug, the fire pit we chose (which is a whole other story…we really saved some moolah on that!), two half barrels from Home Depot as side tables, some homemade pillows out of left over fabric, and a diy herb garden which is super simple (I’ll post how to do that soon). The finishing touch was an outdoor chandelier I found on super sale at Hobby Lobby, which I may hang lower but we shall see. We weeded and mulched the back area, and voila! The perfect start to our outdoor oasis!It’s comfy, perfect for sunny days or cold nights, and it makes me feel like I’m on a mini vacay! If y’all have any questions, feel free to ask in the comments! Thrift on!