Two months ago, Matt and I had a 4m x 3m concrete box. It was far from Pinterest worthy, and minuscule in comparison to the results thrown up on Google when I typed in ‘yard ideas’.
This tiny outside space attached to our Victorian terrace had gone unused all summer, despite the amazing weather we’ve had. It needed overhauling and although we were on the approach to winter, believe it or not that was the perfect time to do it. You see, garden and outdoor living prices take a steep fall in the colder months. Makeovers at this time of year also bring the opportunity to plant plenty of bulbs so that come spring, your outdoor space is a gorgeous retreat. Oh, and I couldn’t bear another Winter looking out of our patio doors and seeing nothing but the peach, flakey walls.
So, here begins a series looking back at our plans, sharing the journey and finally revealing our end result. Be warned, I’m sharing the ‘uglies’, my life isn’t picture perfect and nor is our home right now. This is real life.
We had three main issues to tackle in the yard. We needed to soften the box feel, brighten it up and make it more usable. We planned a brilliant white paint for the walls to reflect light back in to our kitchen and living room and make the yard seem bigger. To soften the concrete floor, we began to look at artificial grass and settled for the best we could find within our budget. To inject some colour, we chose a Cuprinol Coastal Mist for the yard gate and some accents.
To make the space more usable, we needed a solution for the washing line. The position it was in made it impossible to stand in the centre of the yard. We found a retractable washing line by Minky that would neatly tuck away when not in use. That would leave space for a dining set. Our next issue came with our decision to use artificial grass. We then needed an area of hard standing to put the bin and recycling box on and a barbecue for the summer months. Here’s how that would plan out:
As for plants, I teamed up with Plant Me Now to create a planter full of colour and a herb box for our kitchen window that would stock my recipe needs. I can’t say how helpful their advice was because when it comes to flowers, I’m a novice at best. I’ll talk you through our planters in the next post, how we got on with planting up our winter bedding plants, spring bulbs and whether Matt and I can lay this grass properly… I’m nervous! From this point, we still have a lot to do.
Anna says
I can’t wait to see the end result! Good tip that things are cheaper this time of year, we’ve just bought a house with a garden, and I want to do it up a bit. Its not terrible, but a bit boring with lots of grass and not a lot else. Well, we do have a pond, something I know nothing about! Time to become and garden and pond geek!
Anna x
Vicki Higham says
Oh wow, I’d love a pond! My Parents had one in their old garden and I used to love watching the fish and frogs in there. Good luck with it all. Will you be blogging it?