Backyard Oasis

With Spring in full bloom, I've been obsessed with the outside of our house and what kinds of things we want to get done.  Right now we are focusing on the front yard and landscaping that is visible from the street, but because of excitement, I have been planning out the backyard too.  We aren't quite ready to do a full blown project out there yet, but it can't hurt to dream, right?

So, when you start dreaming about your ideal backyard area, what do you do? You make an inspiration board!

From Left to Right in snake form: 1. Gabion Planter 2. Outdoor Umbrella 3. IKEA Outdoor Dining Set 4. DIY Gabion Decor 5. Fiesta Dinnerware 6. Curtains and Trellis for Privacy 7. Tall Grasses 8. Sheer Curtains for Privacy 9. FloraFelt Vertical Garden Planters 10. Built-in Bench with Fire Feature 11. HandyDeck Snap in Flooring 12. Outdoor Kitchen 13. Built-in Planters 14. Cambridge Silversmiths Fiesta Flatware

Before I get into explaining the different parts of the inspiration board, and how they fit my vision, let me refresh you on how our backyard looks.

Right now, we have a small deck that can fit a grill and a table and chairs.  There is a built in bench around the outside of the deck, but it doesn't have a back to it.  Also, the deck is a drab gray color that definitely needs some color.  We also have a beautiful non-fruit bearing pear tree and some arborvitae that add in some privacy in the back, but the side part of the yard is very open.

The pear tree is the one on the right with the leaves everywhere. / Personal Picture

Arborvitae along the fence, with an opening for the gate to the side yard. / Personal Picture

I currently have plans to expand the deck off the side, so that it continues along the back side of the garage.  We will likely rip all of the deck out, including the ugly lattice underneath, and start over with a synthetic decking material, but I really like the idea of just placing a snap on deck over the existing one. Might save us a lot of time and money.

We will move the eating area to the new addition, and along the empty part of the back of the garage, I'll add some vertical planters, just to have a little more green in the area.  We will have a large seating area using the built-in benches (with modifications, of course) with a fire feature where the table is currently, as you will see in the picture below.  

Current seating area on the existing deck. / Personal Picture

D and I both love the way that the back of the house looks, especially now that it has been painted gray and is no longer white.  These pictures are from just before we moved in, so things have changed since then.  

Back of the house before being painted. / Personal Picture

The stairs will stay in the center of the deck, but instead of having them continue at an angle off to the side, we will cut that off and extend that part of the deck out and slightly over the platform that you see on the far right of the picture above.  Here is where the outdoor kitchen will be, with a grill, sink, and mini fridge.  

I would like to add some texture in by adding tall posts to case in the deck and then add some sheers, but D thinks it might take away from the look of the back of the house.  Maybe I'll only add those along the new addition, that way we have a little privacy from the neighbor's house.  Either way, we'll plant some tall grasses along the outside of the deck to hopefully prevent critters from crawling under.  

Lastly, we will redo the plantings in the rest of the yard, add in some of those awesome and natural looking gabion planters, and case in the air conditioner so it's not such an eye sore.  

I really hope that our actual plan ends up like my inspiration board! I think it will look amazing!  Do you have any plans for your backyard or outdoor lounge area? Any suggestions for us?