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Build a European Patio on a Budget

ByDesi

If you are looking to build your outdoor European installed patio, let me help you! I pinned so many of these on my Pinterest board, until maternity leave had me inspired to just DO IT!

At first we wanted to use only tiles, but that got extremely pricey. We decided to switch to concrete stones and pea gravel.

Things you need:

This project can be done in a weekend! Our area was 15 by 9 and cost us $670 to do from our local Lowes (mainly). Our patio set cost around $900 after we got the chairs, but if I could go back, I’d thrift something cute. We did add a TV on the house as well, so this area is easily one of our favorites, especially when we are entertaining.

We repurposed that grass to where our pool builders had gone in and out.

Step one: you will want to get your foundation tilled and level as possible with a small slope (if possible). Because of the gravel, you have room to just have a plain level surface and water will go through the rocks.

This was where we realized there was no turning back

Step 2: You will want to do your edging and the make sure you spray a really good weed and grass killer. We picked up Spruce because it is known for being safe for pets, and we love it (not sponsored, but we wish we were). We chose to have edging, because I knew I would get paranoid at the rocks if I messed them up or they were out and about in our yard.

We chose to leave a gap, which you honestly can’t tell until we point it out

Step 3 & 4, because it’s a doozie.

Lay a landscape barrier really well. Tack it down and make sure it is good. Originally, we let ours sit because of the rain. We ended up redoing it tight to make sure it was good to go.

We put our bricks down in one row length and width wise to ensure we liked the stone colored concrete and the pea gravel we chose together (ours are linked). Once we saw what they looked like, we did not want to cut anything, so we left a gap of all gravel against our short side, since our drain is connected for the pool. This allows the gravel to catch the rain and water (the gravel is about 3 inches deep).

Hannah carried all of these bricks since I was post partum- wife of the year

Step 5: Glue your gravel with mulch glue. Lay it on THICK.. For the best results, do it again the next day. Ours catch rain, have chairs on them, and a fire pit, and 18 months later we are having to re-glue only spots our chairs were on while people were sitting in them.

All done

Now enjoy your patio. We hung lights from our house over to poles near our pool. I also planted hydrangeas in the back (which look so sad here-but they will not always be that way)!

Let us know if you have any questions and tag us in yours to see how it turns out!

Check out our backsplash DIY here

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