How to make a DIY small gravel patio area for your backyard

If you are wondering how to make a DIY small gravel patio area for your backyard in one weekend, I’m going to show you the easiest way! While being budget friendly, functional, and beautiful, this patio area will take full advantage of your outdoor living space!

As an amazon affiliate this post may contain affiliate links, meaning I may make a small compensation at no extra cost to you. See our privacy policy HERE.

Living in a small 900 sqft home definitely comes with its trails and tribulations. An extremely small back porch being one of them. In an ideal world, we would just build a large back porch onto the house, and one day, we will!

But in the mean time, we decided to add a DIY small gravel patio area and I am so glad we did.

Before adding the small gravel patio, We were lacking outdoor living space to truly enjoy spending time outdoors. We wanted to be able to sit together and watch the kids play, sip a cup of coffee in the mornings while the ducks and chickens free ranged around the yard, Ahh, the dream.

But How? Our back porch is hardly enough room for two chairs!

I believe in functionality and beautiful spaces, no matter the size. Im always, and I mean always! down for a budget friendly DIY. It took only one weekend of shoveling gravel rock to completely transform this outdoor space (once just full of dirt and grass) into a cozy outdoor patio area. One we could enjoy for years to come!

Materials used

No special tools needed for this DIY patio area. Just a shovel, some rock and a little elbow grease.

Pea gravel rock – You can get this from your local hardware store for a small area, or have your local rock yards deliver a load for a large area.
Landscape fabric (a weed barrier)
A Shovel
Wheel barrel – if your rock gets delivered in another area of your yard and you need to carry the rock to your new patio area location, a wheel barrel will be helpful for carrying the loads back and forth!

Why add a DIY small gravel patio area to your outdoor living space?

1. To expand your outdoor living areas – The best reason to add a small gravel patio are is to expand your outdoor living area. Whether you have a small back porch or a large one, a gravel patio area can create a cozy outdoor atmosphere to gather around the fire, host an outdoor dinner or a even add a few flower beds with concrete pavers as walkways, seating areas and more. This gravel patio is Perfect for entertaining, hosting dinners or to just cozy up by the fire in the evenings.

2. Cost effective: This DIY project such an affordable way to take your backyard up a notch.

3. Functionality– Use your space to unwind, host parties, watch the kids play, or to simply have lunch outside in a beautiful outdoor space.

5. To host or entertain– If you are lacking areas to host your guest (like we were!) adding a patio area to your outdoor space will allow you the room to have friends and family over to roast marshmallows over the fire, or simply just sit outside in a beautiful space and chat.

6. Quick weekend project– This project can most certainly be done in a weekend with a little hard work! Who doesn’t love a quick weekend project?

7. Creativity– You can create your area to reflect you and the things your family loves most by making it as a simple, or as fancy as you’d like. Add string lights, patio chairs, fire pits, a grilling area, or potted plants to create a beautiful outdoor living area that the whole family can enjoy!

How to make a DIY small gravel patio area

First step, pick your location.

After choosing your area, mark it out with either rope, spray paint or even a garden hose to try and get straight lines while you work.

I would suggest picking a location that is close to the house, an area you would normally hang out anyway! Maybe a shaded area. We chose a corner right off of our small back porch to make the area feel as it is an extension of our home.

Make sure you pick an area with a good view foe your patio space. You wouldn’t enjoy sitting in an area that doesn’t provide a beautiful view of your yard! From this courtyard style gravel patio area in our yard, we can see our little chicken coop and our raised bed garden.

Next step, pick your gravel.

There are many types of gravel you can choose. Some people choose pea rock, crushed stone, or river rock for their patio area. Pick your favorite and then Measure your area to know exactly how much pea gravel you may need, then purchase your gravel from your local hardware store, or have a one of your local suppliers come and deliver your rock!

We were extremely lucky to have traded services with a company that delivered gravel rock for a service my husband provided. Don’t you love when something works out like that? He delivered 5 tons of gravel, and we had more than enough left over for other small projects around the house. Measure your area to know exactly how much gravel you may need.

Prepare your area.

When we chose our area, it was an area of our yard that was mostly dusty dirt and already level. Because of this, we didn’t have much prep work. You may need to remove your topsoil by using a spade first or you may need to level your area out. You can do this by digging a few inches deep all the way around your desired area and filling it back with dirt to level out the surface.

Add your landscape fabric.

Next, we added a layer of landscape fabric to prevent weed growth from peaking through our gravel later. A weed barrier is essential! I did not want to go through all the work of creating this beautiful space, to have to continually pull weeds out.

Add your gravel.

When our rock was delivered, we did not have a fence large enough for the truck to drop the rock in our desired area. Instead, they dropped the rock as close as possible and we spent the weekend shoveling the rock with a wheel barrel borrowed from our neighbor. My husband would shovel and drop the rock with the wheel barrel, and I would spread the rock using a shovel and by kicking my feet back and forth around the rock.

Now the fun part.

Now, the last thing is to make your backyard patio reflect you and your family. We started by adding patio furniture like these wooden folding chairs, a small fire pit area and string lights. We are hoping to add a budget friendly outdoor kitchen area and an outdoor pizza oven next! Who doesn’t love homemade pizza?!

We would also love to add a picnic table and some plants to give the area an English Courtyard feel. Below you can see my mood board for the inspiration on this space.

The ducks seemed to like the new patio area as much as we do!

How to keep your DIY pea gravel patio clean

This beautiful gravel patio area is really such little maintenance. The easiest way to keep your DIY pea gravel patio clean is with a leaf blower! Use a leaf blower to occasionally blow off dirt, debris and leafs instead of regular raking to keep your patio area clean. Another idea, to keep down on. the maintenance is to add landscape edging to keep your rock from escaping out.

Time to enjoy your new DIY small gravel patio.

We have enjoyed our outdoor area so much. We spend so much more time outdoors as a family now. Getting to sit in a cozy beautiful area while the chickens free range, the kids play and dad grills. It has really made us all appreciate our small home even more. The best part, it didn’t break the bank. I can’t even believe we weren’t utilizing this side yard before! A new look can really transform a space.

We hope your gravel patio area will bring your family as much as it has ours! Good luck, friend.