Hi everyone! I would love your help on how to make my NYC patio more comfortable and homey feeling. My husband and I got super lucky finding a rental apartment on the Upper East Side with a ~600 sq foot completely private patio (the dimensions are approx 30' wide x 20' deep). See the attached panorama shot taken from inside the living room window. You can't really see it but there is a 3-foot wide strip of dirt along the back wall that is surprisingly fertile. I just took this photo last week, so it's pretty sparse out there at the moment. The last couple of summers I have simply planted basil in the whisky barrel and colorful impatiens in the back strip of dirt (plus mulch to make it clean-looking). Both grew very well. There are also two small trellises with ivy growing up them leaning against the back wall. We used to have three tall evergreen bushes/trees (not sure what exactly they were) planted in the back strip as well, but they all died within a year. As for the furniture, the only thing to add is that the chair set has light blue cushions.

So... what would YOU do with this space in terms of gardening and furniture arrangement if you could only spend $500-$600? There's just something missing back there. We use it for dinner parties pretty frequently (we have a small electric Weber grill), but I don't think I've ever just gone out there to sit and relax -- that's the goal!

Some things to keep in mind and a specific question:

1. We're renters, so we can't do anything permanent and we can't paint.
2. The space gets very little sunlight. The whisky barrel is in the one really sunny spot.
3. The back wall belongs to the neighboring building, so I can't drill any holes.

1. If I bought an outdoor rug, where would you place it -- under the table or under the chair set? And how big should it be?

Thanks in advance! I can't wait to hear what you come up with!