From Boston to the Bahamas, cottage to luxury condo, summer means outdoor living. You don’t have to have a huge estate to be able to relax outside in comfort—even a small patio or balcony can be inviting and restful with just a few simple touches. Plants, a shaded breeze, a comfortable seat and a place to rest your cold drink are all you really need.

1. Plants

No matter where you live or how black your thumb, you can green up your outdoor space with minimal effort. Herbs in pots or a small planting strip are hardy and smell pleasant—and if you pick the right ones, you don’t even need to water after the first few weeks to get them established. Recommended: lavender, rosemary, oregano, sage. If you like butterflies, consider a pot of a local milkweed (google to find out what’s native to your area) and you’ll be treated to migrating monarchs. For a tropical vibe, try tall, colorful cannas—you’ll have to water them every other day or daily, but they’ll reward you with bright, cheerful blooms and lush green foliage. If you like to sit out in the evening once it’s cooled a bit, consider jasmine.

2. Shade

While it’s nice to get a bit of sun, no one wants to broil when they’re trying to chill. If there’s space for a patio umbrella, you’re set. Small-space alternatives include roll-down shades attached to an awning—reed or bamboo shades allow a breeze to get through and look appropriately vacationlike—breezy semi-sheer curtains, or even just a bright parasol clamped to a balcony railing or the back of a chair. If space allows, you can create shade with plants—that jasmine will climb up and shade a pergola or archway if you lack room for a quick-growing shade tree like dogwood or crape myrtle.

3. A breeze

Even an enclosed space can accommodate a small electric fan or, for a real slow-and-southern feel, a large hand fan that you can wave about listlessly while sipping a julep. If you have the opposite problem—an exposed area, perhaps a city rooftop or balcony, that gets a strong cross breeze, you can block or redirect it with a folding screen (just be sure to anchor the feet), a canvas awning, or some solid plantings. Evergreens like juniper work well, but that shady crape myrtle will also do the job, especially if you help it with a few smaller shrubs at the base like lavender or boxwood.

4. A comfortable seat

You can invest in teak lounge chairs, but even an inexpensive plastic yard chair or a few folding director’s chairs will do. For the most summery outdoor seating, though consider a hammock. Whether strung between two trees or across a balcony, there is nothing more summery and inviting than a hammock, and of course you can always buy a stand if there’s nothing to attach it to. Even a small space will usually have room for a hammock chair and stand: a spread hammock will usually need 9-12 feet of space, but a chair stand only needs to take up a space about 4’x4’.

5. A table

No outdoor space is complete without a place to set a cold drink. Small tables are easy enough to come by, and colorful ceramic garden stools are cheerful, popular, and can be found in styles to fit any design sensibility. Other options: for a naturalistic look, perhaps a well-chosen flat stone, granite slab, or flat-topped tree section; for something a little funky and diy, flip a ceramic planter upside down or put an inexpensive glass table top on any interesting found object—a few cinderblocks with plants in the holes, perhaps, or a large mason jar or hurricane glass filled with something heavy, like colorful glass marbles or smooth river stones. Or hey—there’s nothing that says you can’t just set your drink atop a cooler filled with ice and more drinks.