Today we’re talking about our backyard and the plans we have to completely transform it! We’re sharing before photos, some inspiration ideas and also some photos of our new design as well!
The backyard. Whew. I am simultaneously overwhelmed and excited at just the thought of it!
There were many things that I looked forward to in a new house (mostly space!) and one thing that I was looking forward to most was a bigger yard. Our last yard was pretty small (see below for our previous backyard before & after) but we did our best with the space and turned it into a nice little garden patio area.
In our new house, the backyard is much bigger and while that’s very exciting, it also means we have to think through a much larger overhaul. Luckily, even as the backyard stands now, it’s a nice place to be so nothing needs to be rushed and our biggest priority is to take our time and just do every aspect well. I anticipate the entire makeover process will take five years. Maybe if we’re lucky, it’ll be less and maybe it’ll be more. At this point, it’s hard to say and I think only time will tell with that.
Since there are are going to be so many different aspects and phases to finishing this space, I knew it would be important to have a plan put together before we started working on anything. That way, we would always be able to refer back to the overall goal we were reaching towards. This was really helpful so that we could break down individual projects and create timelines etc. all while working towards this big goal.
It was also a great way to visualize the finished space, since it will be much different than it currently is and make sure my ideas all worked in a cohesive way.
We hired IN&OUT Source Design to handle the design and bring our vision to life. I sent them a long (20 pages) detailed break down of exactly what I was thinking and then asked for their input and we got back our designs.
They are stunning! Even though this is the backyard I asked for and have dreamed about, just seeing it actually built out and designed is magical. It makes me really excited about the future. I’m ready to dig in! (literally, because we plan on doing a lot of the work ourselves)
Backyard Zones
I sent our designer this image where I broke down the backyard into five different “zones”:
- pool & spa
- outdoor kitchen
- garden
- lounge space
- dog run
Inspiration
Here are some of the inspiration photos I sent over:
via one | two | three | four | five | six | seven
Backyard Design Plans
In future posts, I’ll go through each space and break it down and talk more about the individual projects we have to complete but for now I just wanted to show you the overall plan!
An overview look
Fire pit seating area near the pool and the area to the right is the start of the dog run
Outdoor kitchen under pergola with the raised vegetable garden beds on the right
Tanning deck being added to the pool area
Vegetable garden near the tanning deck with espalier fruit tree against the wall
Dog run with gate and added exterior door
I can’t wait to get started and even though it’s going to be a lot of work, I’m excited to start creating a beautiful space to enjoy for years to come!
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