How to Decorate Pergola

Write down your goals for decorating your pergola. Your goals could include providing shade, providing a pleasant environment for relaxing, blending naturally into your landscape, or tying into your home's exterior.

Choose the decorative elements that you will incorporate into your pergola to fulfill your goals.

Paint your pergola to blend into the landscape or tie into your home's exterior. Painting your pergola's supports brown and trusses green will help the pergola blend in with trees, while painting it to match your home's trim color will coordinate it with your house.

Attach supports for hanging baskets by drilling quarter-inch holes into the trusses of the pergola. Screw quarter-inch hook bolts into these holes and secure them with washers and nuts. Suspend hanging baskets from the hooks of the hook bolts.

Place box planters next to the supports of your pergola. Fill these planters with shrubs such as boxwood, climbing roses or climbing vines such as potato vine or morning glories.

Hang draperies or sun shades from the rafters of your pergola to create shade from the sun and the illusion of walls in your outdoor room. You can tie back the draperies to support posts when not in use.

Drape outdoor lights over the rafters of your pergola. You can buy outdoor garden lights at many hardware stores and garden centers. They can resemble exterior Christmas lights or Chinese lanterns. Select lights that coordinate with your pergola or garden theme.