Find the decor and more at these shops
Merimeri - Party supplies and decorations
Leif Shop - Home, paper goods, and more
Hopscotch Cakes - Central Illinois cake shop
2017 GARDENER'S IDEA BOOK
Meet Joy & Eric
They're both avid gardeners who spend a lot of time outdoors. Since entertaining friends and family at home is their other favorite past-time, they've set out to create a flexible patio space using movable planters that keep up with their busy social life.
Joy & Eric have an action-packed weekend of entertaining ahead of them. Here's what they've got planned:
Saturday: A birthday party for their niece Emily in the morning, with games for kids.
Then, they'll reset the patio for a dinner with friends in the evening.
Sunday: Brunch
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Joy and Eric have put their planters on casters, making them super-easy to move and rearrange to cater to any kind of get-together. This will come in handy, as they'll be resetting
the patio to suit each event.
Pot on a wheeled metal planter caddy
Large wood planter on casters
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Joy and Eric wheel both large crate planters to the center of the patio to create a bowling alley for the kids.
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Large pots are moved to the edges of the patio to make more room for the festivities
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The resulting space has a nice flow from the pergola, where the kids eat cupcakes and open presents, to the more spacious play area where the kids can run, bowl, and have a water-gun battle while the adults can lounge and chaperone.
Click the circles or left and right arrows to view slideshow images
With a large patio like this, it can be a challenge to create an inviting space. These two 8ft long crate planters work great to divide a large space for a more intimate setting.
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To make a cozy outdoor space for dinner, Joy and Eric use the mobile crate planters to divide the pergola area and the rest of the patio. They put them together in an L-shape and string up globe lights on wooden dowels for a charming warm glow.
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To provide a lovely backdrop of plants for the evening, two large planters and two small planters are positioned by the pergola pillars, around the dining table.
Watch the video above to see the patio
reset between the birthday party and dinner.
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After a Saturday full of guests, games, and good times, Joy and Eric want to reset the patio a bit, open it up and place the plants where they can be enjoyed best throughout the week.
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The large crate planters are moved to the front of the patio, creating an lush, attractive privacy screen.
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This setup is more casual. It leaves the patio at its most spacious, but maintains inviting nooks to mingle, lounge, and relax.
This slideshow features all the plants in the patio scenes above. Click a plant for more information.