Mediterranean Inspired Patio and DIY Outdoor Living Space

The backyard is pretty much the only space left for us to renovate in our current home, and ever since we toured this house, I’ve been dreaming of a Mediterranean inspired patio under the rundown vine-covered pergola.

This spring we finally made it happen and not to sound full influencer-who’s-probably-trying-to-sell-you-something, but I am obsessed. The mismatched planters full of greenery? The stone veneer outdoor kitchen? The incredible terracotta-look tile? It’s all so good.

We kept it as thrifty as we could by keeping the same patio sectional we bought a year or two ago, keeping our janky old thrifted farmhouse table, using leftover stone veneer from our overgrouted stone fireplace, and leaving the existing pergola for now even though it could use at the very least a good sanding and staining.

But still, this ended up being more expensive than we planned (typical), and was way more labor-intensive than I think we expected from the outset. Worth it.

Let’s take a little look of the moodboard and the before:

And now the after:

Here’s how we did it:

Prep is the most important part

We started by using a self leveler on the whole patio to fill in some dips that always pooled when it rained, which is challenging to do on a surface where you still want to keep the drainage slope. We also had a concrete guy pour a small slab to square off the existing concrete, which made the space feel so much bigger than the 50-ish square feet it added.

Tiling for eternity

Until now, the biggest space we’ve ever tiled was our kitchen floor at about 150 square feet. So, this 400-square-foot patio might as well have been a million.
It took us about a week to do on full weekend days and in the early before-work and before-it-gets-too-hot hours, but it instantly made such a big difference in the space.

This tile is the perfect choice for a Mediterranean-inspired patio and it’s a hill I’ll die on. Note: The Tile Shop gifted us the tile to use in this project, but my love for it is 100% genuine!

The outdoor kitchen

I’ll do a separate post on this part because it was a lot of steps, but damn if we don’t feel like we live in a different tax bracket with an outdoor kitchen.

Like I said before, we used leftover stone veneer from our fireplace but I quickly realised we would be short on how much we needed and panicked. I scoured options on the internet and then did a quick Facebook Marketplace search where I found someone selling their leftover veneer that was so similar to ours, so I just mixed the two and forged on.
I should never doubt the power of FBMP.

We had to get our plumbers to add a water line to the kitchen space and tie the drain into the bathroom (that thankfully is really close). This cost close to $1,300 for about two hours of work so it was easily one of the biggest ticket single items in the whole project. We went back and forth on how much we needed a sink out there but now that it’s done I’m totally converted. Without a sink, the space felt more just like a grill surround than a kitchen, and it’ll be handy to rinse things like paint brushes out there so we don’t dirty the actual kitchen sink.

The finishing touches

Honestly, one of the biggest impacts out here happened more than a year ago when we painted our exterior brick white. That was really the base of the whole Mediterranean inspired patio I was going for, and the terracotta color tile complemented it so well.

Being me, I scoured all the thrift stores for as many decorative things as I could find but I didn’t have much luck so I had to get a lot of it new.

I am no garden girl and I fully expect these plants not to last long, but for now I’m hopeful and diligently watering them so we’ll see. I got the planters mostly at Target, Walmart, and from At Home and I found them all to be the most affordable options.

The potting bench beverage stand is something I’ve had saved as inspo forever, and setting the table felt like a fancy touch.

A little detail that made a huge difference that I didn’t expect was stringing this cute little pendant light above the dining table. It made it feel like its own space and was a super quick DIY just adding some Amazon shades onto a rope light kit.

We’ve come a looooong way from the mosquito-infested, green concrete patio we had before. I’m going to have to start hating people less so I can entertain out here now.

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