A few more pics to get a full 360 view of the area...

Know any artists? A bright fun mural would be fabulous there!!

arcy_gw, unfortunately I do not. I'm not really a fan of murals so I don't think that's something I would pursue, but thank you for offering a suggestion. :)

I liked this idea (the planters on the wall) but not sure if it would be too much wood with the teak wood piece in the corner of that same wall. I wouldn't have room for three and one may look too dinky on the large wall.

Some faux greenery wall cover idea

What a lovely spot to have to relax. I think you need a couple of outdoor rugs to warm up the space. Pull the sofa away from the wall, you have lots of space so don't have to have it crammed against the wall.

I would cluster your plants - not one here, one there. Try clustering them in groups of thee,

Three different heights in each cluster.

The two chairs, have them face the sofa so you have a large grouping of seating.

The large fern, put it in the corner behind the lamp after you pull the sofa into the room.

You have a beautiful space!

Your teak wood piece is fantastic and not being used to it's full potential tucked in the corner. I'd make it a focal point and hang it (not prop it up) where the large palm tree is now on the back wall. Scoot the two matching plants toward it so they aren't blocking your carriage lights.

There are a variety of outdoor screens available, some quite economical, that could compliment the wood piece. Get two to hang on the wall behind the chairs, in between the hanging baskets. The baskets are too small to carry that wall by themselves.

Add two more screens on the other side and place the large palm tree in between.

Some extras to consider: solar powered water fountain(s), larger carriage lights on a dimmer switch, a floor lamp in the corner of the seating area (for height), rugs, and attractive solar lights in the pots for the evening.

I can’t figure out which wall you want to decorate since they all seem to have plants in front of them. I would put in a bar/beverage station where you can stash a cooler, store some drink ware, table linens, liquor, entertaining necessities etc. Then do some art on the wall behind the bar. where is your grill?

Ask yourself first how you are going to use that area. What kinds of activities are you going to do and what kind of atmosphere do you want to create. That should drive your decisions, not the other way around. For example, me I'm a plant person so I'd use that space to espalier something. But gads, if you're not a plant person that would be heck! I also love metal art, so I might splurge and get a piece like that, but gads, I can't afford something like that. I might want to drown out street nosie, so then a wall fountain, Shady wants a bar and some would want an outdoor kitchen so then I might be hanging planters and growing herbs against the wall . . . etc., etc., etc. Form follows function . . .

Thank you for all the suggestions, finally found time to sit down to reply!!! Rather than create separate comments I figured I would reply to everyone on this one comment. :)

Celery. Visualization, Rendering images, thanks for the idea using the faux greenery. Since I have a lot of real plants in the courtyard I'm not sure I would like having a wall of faux. I'm sure it would look amazing in another setting.

Angel 18432, thanks for your many suggestions. We really do enjoy the space and are hoping to finalize the decor so we can relax and not spend our time analyzing everything!! Rugs are something I have wanted to add but my husband is not in favor of them. We hose the patio down fairly frequently and he is concerned about the travertine under the rugs and the rugs not drying well and getting moldy. We don't really want to be picking up the rugs and turning them over to dry every time we hose down the patio. Unfortunately I think I have lost the rug battle.

The reason we have the sofa up against the wall is because we have a small overhang that protects the furniture from the rain. That way we are able to use the sofa and chairs right after it rains, no waiting around for the cushions to dry. As for the two chairs, I set that area up as a separate sitting area but we can always move the chairs over to the sofa area if necessary. Another reason they are in that location is because they extend out to make lounge chairs, and that is the best spot for sunning.

The plants have been a work in progress...I wanted a clean look and to cover as much wall space as possible. The smaller plants in the black pots on the plant stands were going to go on either side of the table I wanted to have built, I just placed them between the row of plants on the back wall temporarily. But I do get your rational to mix it up a bit...it's a struggle haha.

JT7abcz, thank you for your generous comments on our space and the teak piece. We have the teak piece in the corner for two reasons...to protect it from the elements (that area is covered) and we thought it warmed up the sitting area, made it a little more homey feeling. I think your idea off placing it on the back wall between the two plants would look awesome but we aren't willing to risk the beating it would take from the rain and sun. Another reason why we have the three large plants along the back wall is that is what you see when you walk in the front door and from the kitchen. I preferred looking at greenery rather than a yellow wall. ;)

I do like the suggestion of the wall panels, I have looked at those online. And I agree we need something else on the wall with the hanging baskets. We tried some metal sulpture wall hangings but with the shadows there were soooo many lines between the actual wall hanging and the shadows, it drove me crazy. Perhaps a tighter design would be less apt to create shadows. The other concern I had with wallpanels was having too many large vertical pieces since we already have the teak piece. Do you think that is something to think about or more of a non issue?

And last but not least, I again love the suggestion of the two panels on the wall with the large palm in between, the glitch there...yes I am finding there is always a glitch...we placed the large palm next to the chair to hide a big drain spout. So even if the panels were not too much of a "vertical thing" we would prefer not to move the palm away from the drain. What do you think of just two panels next to each other with no plant in between? All of your other suggestions are great and we have incorporated some of them...we recently installed the carriage lights and they are on dimmers (that was the size recommended by the lighting store person),and lights behind plants. Unfortunately rugs have been vetoed by my husband. :( Thanks again!!

ShadyWillowFarm, thanks for your reply. The wall I am working on is the one with the lone yucca plant, the best view of it is in the third photo. There is a large palm on that wall but once you eliminate the yucca it is completely bare for the most part. Since we have our table in the middle there isn't alot of room to add anything too wide, but yes I was thinking along the same lines as you with an area for beverages, etc. when we are entertaining. That plan has been put on the back burner for now due to the cost of the table. That area is not covered so it gets wet when it rains so I wouldn't want to store too much out there on a regular basis. Our grill is in the back right corner of the courtyard (first pic), you can see a bit of the black cover peeking out from behind the plant.

I pinkmountain, yes, you are correct form does follow function!! We use the area to relax and entertain when we have friends over. We don't have any specific needs for the area, as much as I would like to have a table to set things up when we have company, we have survived without one just fine. My main goal is to have the area look finished. It has been hanging over my head for awhile and I'm just ready to be done haha. Thanks again for your input.

Again, thank you to everyone who took the time to reply with suggetions!!

Your plants all look great. Sometimes it's nice to have areas that aren't filled up with "stuff". Since you already have a lot of pots, and the stone accent wall next to that area, I wouldn't add anything to the wall. I would paint that section a deep green color. It would relate well to all your greenery, and make the wall recede. If you absolutely wanted to add anything to the wall after the paint, you could add a large outdoor mirror, centered over your table, which would give the table more focus and add some sparkle to the space.

I understand your hesitation to place the teak piece in the sun and rain and wanted to mention in case you didn't know that teak is extremely weather resistant which makes it an ideal choice for outdoor use.

You asked, The other concern I had with wallpanels was having too many large vertical pieces since we already have the teak piece. Do you think that is something to think about or more of a non issue?

IMO, the large vertical pieces will enhance the space. The four walls of your courtyard truly make this an outdoor room. Any interior room, like a living or dining room, would look bare/unfinished with only furniture and plants and no art or texture on the walls. That's why your teak piece is so great, it provides texture and warmth and contrast, it's also another interesting vertical layer. You don't want to add more potted plants for texture and clearly, you like symmetry (me too.) Consider another layer for the wall by the chairs and the opposite wall, whether it's wall screens or shutters or some DIY pieces.

You already have a wonderful space and your furniture placement is spot on, just some ideas for you to consider.

I would attach a fairly large canopy to the wall and put a buffet-style table under it for entertaining. You can set it up for drinks and hors d'oeuvres. or for a buffet picnic.

@calidesign, thanks for your comments about the placement of our plants. I know a lot of suggestions are to cluster them but I was looking for a more symmetrical, clean look...that's just the way my mind works.

Painting the wall is an interesting concept, never thought of that. I did look into outdoor mirrors after I read your comments, unfortunately the ones I saw had comments about not holding up too well in the rain and direct sun. Neat idea though, thanks.

@JT7abcz, thanks for coming back with more wisdom!!! Yes, we are aware that teak is fine out in the elements, we prefer to keep the nice brown color rather than the natural gray that results from exposure. I love your idea of putting it on the back wall but my husband (who is very handy) has no interest in going through the process of scrubbing each little piece with teak cleaner to bring it back to the brown color...thus it is tucked away.

Your comment about the 4 walls being like an indoor room was a very valid point. You are correct, we wouldn't leave indoor walls empty. I will have to start the hunt for wall art. Thanks for your remarks on furniture placement. There was thought behind it and it seems to work well for us.

@floral_uk z.8/9 SW UK, I appreciate your observation on my plant placement, a few others have made similar comments, however as I mentioned above I wanted a symmetrical, clean look. The small plants in the black pots on the plant stands are not permanent, they will be relocated once we finalize our plan. The lone yucca will also be gone, currently looking for a home for it. I like the two plants on either side of the two chairs, I think it gives balance and one of them hides the grill when looking from inside to outside.

@ashtonchic, thanks for your reply. That was my original plan, to put a console table on that wall, hadn't thought about a canopy. I'm not sure if you read through my original post, I was considering having a table built out of ipe wood (cheaper than teak but great in the outdoor environment) and metal legs to coordinate with my current coffee table. Unfortunately it was quite a bit more expensive than I anticipated and I'm having a hard time justifying the expense for an outdoor table when I want to replace a few pieces of furniture on the inside of my home. Thus my design dilemma!!

how about painting that one wall a brighter color and then accenting w/slat wood, plants, bright pots? ( I actually did this with cobalt on one of my walls. (pics below,) and here's how that looks

I think if you brought in some type of blue, or even a canary yellow, orange or green, did some wood, some plants, some bright ceramic pots, succulents, it would look greeat.

another idea is wood panels. You can get these (I ordered two of them) from wayfair and paint them the bright colors if you like. trail some plants on the walls around them

Teak may be weather resistant but it will gray within a year or so. YOu must use a marine quality varnish w/UV properties. and, it should be done once a year.

I have ipe and iroku in my yards.

can't remember if this was ipe or something similar. anyway, brand new! I even coated it w/a good marine varnish. want to see what happens when you don't do it every year? see pic 2

great, huh. It's still strong and not rotted. but this is the natural color it turns.

I used the Iroku slats as an orchid wall. It's simple to do yourself. and yes, I varnished the wood. This doesn't get any direct sunlight.

this wall is in the front courtyard area. I painted the one wall over a koi pond a bright cobalt.

I've since painted the house white and charcoal, but the blue wall is still there!

There are a lot of great suggestions on this thread but the OP keeps rejecting them. Maybe he/she wants validation instead? If you’re not willing to move the lined up plants into clusters, get some outdoor area rugs, and bring your furniture away from the walls, I don’t think anyone can help you, unfortunately. That would be too bad because this has the potential to be a really cool courtyard.

Funny, that's what I was thinking also. Could be a lovely sitting area but at the moment it

looks haphazard.

It's difficult to truly know anyone's motivations, especially through a few sentences or paragraphs. Pictures are worth a thousand words, however, and the OP's idea books show a strong preference for a certain style. Everyone likes what they like, no reason for any of us to take it personally.

Thanks for the additional comments.

@Beth H. :, thank you for taking the time to post pics and describe everything you did to your outdoor spaces. You are very creative, thanks for sharing your ideas with me.

The bright walls and pots look lovely in your space however I am more inclined to stick with neutrals, boring as they may be, that is what I like. Our courtyard walls are yellow because that is the overall color of the townhouse units and we have to keep it that color. I completely agree with you about the upkeep of the teak, as seen in your before/after photos. That is what we are trying to avoid with our large teak piece.

Your orchid wall is very cool. I had thought about some type of wood slat plant holder, still have not ruled that out. Thanks again for your input.

@lkloes, thank you for taking the time to reply. I'm not sure if you read through the entire thread but it started with me asking about one particular wall. I have received advice for that wall and everything else...furniture placement, plant placement, rugs, etc. I appreciate all of the input I have received and plan to use some of the suggestions, however what looks good on paper may not work for how we utilize the area. I have explained the thinking behind furniture and certain plant placement (keeping cushions dry, chairs become loungers for sunning, hiding a drain pipe and the grill. I have to keep a direct walkway open from the garage to my home). I would love outdoor rugs but as I explained my husband doesn't want to deal with them constantly being wet and I have decided to choose my battles, that isn't one of them. So as much as I have rejected suggestions I have tried to explain the reasoning why. I am in no way looking for validation, my original Design Dilemma was what to do with one wall, all of the other suggestions have been welcome but are not my main focus.

@Angel 18432, thank you for taking the time to comment. I'm sorry you feel the space looks haphazard. It actually looks quite nice in person and we are happy with it.

@JT7abcz, thank you!!! I appreciate you pointing out that we all have our own styles. Thanks again for your wonderful advice!

For a low maintenance "finished" look I wouldn't go with a plant wall or a fountain. I'd splurge on some wall art/decoration. (Spoken as someone who has both a fountain and hanging plants but has to constantly fuss with them to keep them looking great.) Depends on your current maintenance load and how you feel about increasing it quite a bit for plants or a water feature. With plants its watering, insect control, fertilizing, trimming and eventually repotting. With a fountain its making sure it doesn't get clogged and the water stays clear and the fountain clean. Our little fountain is easily taken apart for cleaning and we have easy access to the circulating motor if any problems crop up.

@l pinkmountain, you make some very good points about the maintenance/upkeep of both additional plants and fountains. I'm actually leaning towards panels or some other type of outdoor artwork...something maintenance free. Thanks for coming back with additional input, appreciate it. :)