Let’s face it. What else are you going to do? Ideas to get you inspired to make your backyard a place you want to self isolate.
My name’s Karen. I do stuff. Pretty much everything. What I don’t do is, relax. I’m bad at it. Like really bad. Complex math bad.
It’s an affliction.
But the fact that I don’t relax in my backyard is good news for you because I’ve become a bit of a backyard building expert!
Over the past 10 years I’ve packed as much into my tiny backyard as is humanly possible, and I did it on a budget. I mean it was a huge budget because I’m extremely rich, but still it was a budget.
Just kidding. I’m not poor and I’m not rich. I’m ordinarily wealthy.
I have learned a LOT doing this backyard. A lot of the right ways to do things and a lot of the wrong ways.
I’ve learned what makes a nice backyard and what makes what could be a nice backyard, a total miss.
A great backyard evolves over time, it doesn’t happen overnight. Even if you’re rich, it takes time to do stuff and for plants to grow. Those backyard makeover shows where everything is done in a weekend? Those are lies. I know because I hosted shows like that.
Whether your backyard is almost great or not even close to great these ideas will help you make it better. And by better I mean a place you actually enjoy and relax in.
Backyard Ideas
- DIVIDE IT INTO ROOMS
Just like a house, your backyard will become infinitely more useable if you divide it up into “rooms”. This is even true (maybe especially true) if you have a small backyard.
This is an overhead look at my small backyard and how I have it broken up into 3 main sections.
The chicken coop, the pizza oven area, and the eating/pond area.
The backyard is small but it feels big.
And more than just feeling big, it feels useful.
Every area has a section and every section has a purpose. This is what my backyard looked like several years ago before I built my Restoration Hardware sectional and chair. It’s at the beginning of the summer before the perennials had filled in.
2. SUNNY BACKYARD? PUT IN A VEGETABLE GARDEN.
3. SHADY BACKYARD? HOSTAS, ASBILBE AND BOSTON FERNS.
4. DO RAISED PLANTER BEDS
Raised planter beds are one of the fastest, cheapest ways to add structure and interest to your backyard. I’m not talking about the kind of utilitarian raised beds you’d use to plant vegetables in (although those are good too) but rather the kind you see surrounding the perimeter backyard.
Raised planter beds are easy to build and totally transform a backyard because a) you’re adding another height and b) you can make them whatever shape you want. So if you have a plain, rectangular backyard, you can jig and jag your planter beds in any way you want to create a backyard that’s an interesting shape. not just a plain rectangle.
The beds above are poured concrete and completely change a plain, rectangular backyard instantly. O.K., not instantly, probably weekstantly or monthstantly … but still.
I built my raised beds out of pressure treated wood which I stained black. They outline the entire backyard. You can see them below.
(those lounge chairs are long gone because even though they looked great, they too were uncomfortable. This is the area my dining table and chairs are now.)
5. Gas BBQ? Buy an extra propane tank so when one runs out you have another to replace it with.
6. Can’t be bothered to water? Your hose probably isn’t convenient. Move it. Don’t want to have it professionally moved? Just add a splitter and an extra length of hose and hang it where it’s most convenient.
7. FORGET THE FLOWERS … FOCUS ON FOLIAGE. A backyard filled with only green is calm and relaxing and usually less maintenance.
8. WATER FEATURE
Whether it’s just a big pot with a small fountain and aquatics in it or a full on pond with waterfalls like the one I built, having the sound of some type of moving water instantly relaxes you and makes you feel like you’re somewhere else. Costa Rica maybe.
To build my pond (in the photo below) I used the bits of leftover slate that had started to crumble in my backyard. (I then replaced the shaley slate with flagstone which is much better for my climate).
9. BY THE GRILL. Keep big potted herbs by your BBQ.
10. A TREE. A backyard needs a tree. Any tree. No tree? Plant a tree. Ornamental trees like Japanese Maples planted in big square planters are especially nice and you don’t need a huge backyard for them.
11. SMOKE ‘EM IF YOU GOT ‘EM. Put a smoker in your backyard and you can do the world’s best ribs PLUS you have to tend to it for several hours, forcing you to hang out in the backyard.
12. OVERHEAD LIGHTING.
Get some NICE outdoor lighting. Because if you can’t see outside after dark chances are you aren’t going to spend any time out there. Because you’ll be bumping into things.
These patio globe lights were the “Pinterest” thing of the moment a few years ago. I was sure they would have run their course by now but NOPE. They’re still everywhere.
Including my own backyard. (see above)
13. AMBIENT LIGHTING. Like solar spot lights, deck lights and my world famous outdoor orbs.
14. MUSIC. Add weather proof outdoor speakers.
15. BUY OUTDOOR FURNITURE NOW. Crap backyard because there’s nowhere to sit? Patio furniture starts getting drastically reduced in July. You still have a good selection right now too … by August or September stores will only be left with the ugly stuff.
16. ADD A PIZZA OVEN.
You can buy one, but they aren’t cheap. If you’re even remotely handy with a few of weekends on your hands you can build your own like I did for around $100 out of clay, straw and sand.
I have never had so many people desperate to come and visit. It’s mayhem in the summer with lineups out the gate. Like Studio 54 without the cocaine and gold lame.
17. FUN AND GAMES. Add an element of fun. Bocce balls, horseshoes, badminton, croquet, putting green, sandbox, bean bag toss (cornhole … but good God I don’t like that name, lol).
18. FOR THE BIRDS. Bored? Add birdhouses and watch them flit and flirt. Put out birdfeeders or oranges for orioles and add a birdbath.
19. WHITE FLOWERS. If you absolutely MUST have flowers in your backyard plant white ones. White flowers will show up past dusk and into the night where those super-cool black Petunias will completely disappear.
20. HANG A HAMMOCK.
I’m convinced the reason I don’t relax more in my backyard is that I don’t have a hammock. If I had a hammock I’d surely relax all day all the time. The Mayan Hammock is apparently the hammock to buy …
It also comes in neutral too for those of you who have more refined tastes. I kindda like the bright one for some reason which is very unlike me. Clearly I’m not as refined as I thought.
21. BUILD A GROWN UPS TREEHOUSE. This is the one to aspire to.
22. HAVE YOUR MORNING COFFEE OUTSIDE. This one little thing involves nothing more than changing your routine.
23. ADD A CLOTHESLINE. Cut down on hydro costs, the freshest sheets you’ll ever sleep on, PLUS it forces you outside to hang and take down the clothes.
24. PUT UP A PERGOLA.
This is one I’ve been doing years of research on. I’m thinking my backyard might need a pergola over the sitting area by the pizza oven.
See? It’d go right here over the furniture …
25. HIDE THE JUNK. Recycle bins, garbage pails, shovels in plain site? Hide them behind gates or screens.
26. BUY CHEAP FOOD SCREENS. Nothing ruins a nice backyard dinner like shit flies in the potato salad.
27. FAKE A BREEZE. Plugging in a fan outside will cool you off plus keep mosquitos away at dusk because they can’t fly through a wind. Stupid little mosquitos.
28. CREATE A PATHWAY.
I’ve always loved pathways made out of plain strips of wood.
29. USE YOUR WALLS. Use your house walls to add more dimension to your backyard. Hang old picture frames, window boxes, sculptures, potted plants or whatever else you can think of.
30. ADD SOMETHING SCULPTURAL. Your backyard is big so it can handle bigger things than your house. Huge pots, Buddha heads, ladders or statutes give you something to focus on.
26. PULL THE CHAIRS OUT.
This one is so easy it probably seems stupid. But a lot of outdoor furniture is bulky and heavy. So don’t push your chairs all the way into your tables. Keeping them pulled out enough that you can slip in will make you way more likely to actually sit down on them. Honestly. I know it seems ridiculous but this tip is one of the best.
Does that help?
If these ideas got you excited to polish up your own backyard it might be time to do something about it! Wouldn’t you love to have a backyard that makes you sigh instead of cry?
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