Patio remodeling ideas

[pinkpinkmooon]

Flooring/"ground cover":

• Refurbish the preexisting slab
• adding colored concrete
  • perhaps in some sort of artistic fashion. perhaps in brown, green or gray hues to complement the colors of the surrounding landscape without making the ground cover so dark as to make it hold in heat
• adding stamped concrete

Awning:

• triangle-shaped cloth, such as canvas or another material
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• (of course, you see how it's not actually shading the seating area because of the way it's placed--it would do better at an angle--it would be cool to make the triangles removable/adjustable so we could adjust the angles of the triangles for different times of the year when the sun will be at different locations in the sky)

• vine-covered pergola/trellis/arbor--not sure what the correct term for this is. this is a cool idea, but I think the triangle awning idea would be more efficient at temperature control/blocking sunlight, as well as being instantaneous and adjustable.
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Plants:

• bamboo fencing
• woody vines
  • vine info from Alabama Extension service (includes info on types and characteristics of vines we could possibly use)

Brick wall:

• stucco
  • widening the walls on the parking lot side so as to make them more comfortable seating--they are at a good height for seating, but their narrowness makes them uncomfortable for many people.