Make Your Patio or Deck the Most-Used Room

We asked Motherboard Moms what they love about their patios and decks … and were surprised that there wasn’t much love out there. They wanted to take advantage of their extra outdoor space, but were having a hard time creating a livable outdoor room their family could enjoy. TheMotherboard.com is here to help! Here are 3 patio issues solved to help you get your family outside:

1. Not Much to Love

Mom to Mom: What do you love? “My husband put gates on so my little guy is safe up there while the bigger kids play in the yard….other than that. Not much.”

Do you find your patio or deck kinda boring? Treating your deck like it’s an outside room will help add more personality and usefulness to your family:

Give your deck more color (you can even go overboard with it). If it helps, pick out a color scheme (like you would indoors) and stick with it while decorating your outside space.

Money Saving Tips: Learn how to spruce up old patio furniture and how to use flea market finds to decorate your deck.

2. Too Hot in the Sun

Mom to Mom: What do you love? “Absolutely nothing. My deck gets ALL the evening sun and is practically never used because of it. We desperately need to put a roof over it, enclose it, or do SOMETHING to make it usable.”

We love the sunshine, but too much of it will ruin a relaxing time on the patio. Since we can’t plant full-grown trees in a weekend, we recommend these simple solutions:

Use a large umbrella or canopy to block the sun. These bring more to your deck than just shade. They offer splashes of color and you can decorate them with lights at night.

3. Only Use it to BBQ

Mom to Mom: What do you love? “We mostly just eat out there when we bbq, i love bbq’s…”

Some of the best family time is preparing a meal together and everyone hanging out in the kitchen. You can do the same outside:

Set up a cooking and dining area on your deck the same way you would inside. You can even hook up a garden hose to make a sink.

For Fun: Install a fun water feature on your patio for next to nothing (we’ll tell you how).

Read what other moms love cooking outside and share your favorite outdoor meals on momster.com.

Enjoy!

~ Ashley, from The Motherboard

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