Initially, I bought pillows to coordinate with the fabric of the outdoor sofa. A little back story on the outdoor sofa: we moved from North Dakota where Colter (our dog) lived inside. He liked to lay on the sofa and in an attempt to successfully transition him to an outside dog, I decided that he needed an outdoor sofa. My mom took me to a discount fabric store where we found some outdoor fabric and foam and someone to make a bench seat and pillow covers. Matt made the sofa based on the bench cushion dimensions.

Last year, I started ignoring the brightly colored sofa cushions and bought orange decor for fall and red and green decor for Christmas. The back door was an eye soar and originally planned to replace it but I eventually chose the cheaper option: paint. The front door is black so I decided to paint the back door black too. I sanded and scraped and painted the frame and the door. Matt installed new hinges and weather stripping.

In addition to my new black door, I had a black and cream pillow that my mom purchased for me when we first moved in so I decided to carry the black and cream/white palette to the rest of the patio. That included painting a concrete urn that was at the house when we moved in and I also painted my old burgundy pot. The bottom of the cage lanterns were copper colored but while I was spray painting everything else, I decided to paint them black too.

If you are looking for outdoor lanterns without glass, good luck. These are the only ones I could find. The lanterns from Pottery Barn are actually less expensive than the similarly styled Smith and Hawken lanterns from Target. I am sure the glass on an outdoor lantern is pretty tough but this is the dog’s patio where we play fetch and run around on a regular basis. My aim is not too good and like me, my dog is a bit clumsy so it is best that we avoid anything with glass out there. All of these glass-less lanterns also use battery powered outdoor candles.

I found the inexpensive cream and black pillow covers on Amazon. I brought back the tic-tac-toe board that my aunt made. I put the Christmas cactus that my other aunt gave me in a white pot on the table.

I finally got some lights and found a plug with remote on Amazon so I can easily turn them on and off. They are pretty bright and I wish I had purchased the plug with dimmer capabilities. I also picked up one more ottoman pouf.

I am liking all these lanterns and the neutral decor. I brought back the dragonfly flag, which will probably stay till fall.

Now I just need a black and white umbrella for the lounge chairs by the pool.

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