For many homeowners, having a yard is a must. In fact, it’s so crucial that real estate agents agree that a house with a back or front yard will be sold quicker than a house that has no garden, regardless of its price. However, more often than not, gardens are left untouched and unused. What is stopping people from transforming their outdoors into something they can love and cherish? The most likely answer is that they lack time and motivation. However, your yard is full of potential which you could use to improve your home life and modernize your house. There is more to your front yard than a couple of potted geraniums. With the right approach and a smart design, you can make your yard an extension of your property. It doesn’t matter whether you’ve got green thumbs or whether you don’t know how to keep plants alive. Your backyard provides you with additional living space that you could transform to adjust it to your needs and preferences. With these 6 ideas, you can be sure that your outdoors will never be dull again.
Here’s how to bring your backyard to life:
Taming the outdoors
The main problem with a garden is that if you leave it without attention for too long – say for a handful of months – it can rapidly grow into a green mess that you won’t want to deal with. For a start, it can be difficult to see the potential of your backyard when the garden is overgrown and you’re not quite sure you can see the ground anymore. A landscaping specialist such as Landscape FX could help you to clear out your garden and create a design that is not only easy to manage but also inviting. A lot of homeowners who complain about their garden lack the knowledge to create a space that works for their needs. Indeed, there are many elegant and beautiful perennials that can set the decor without requiring much maintenance. With them, you can have an impressive garden year after year. You can also choose sophisticated decor elements, such as a water feature or a path to divide the space, with minimal efforts.
A place to socialize
Ultimately not everyone loves the idea of turning the garden into a haven for plants. If you tend to be forgetful and to accidentally kill the indestructible potted houseplants you can buy in shops, it’s fair to say that a green and flowery garden may not be the best choice to maximize your outdoors. But you can instead transform your backyard into an extension of your living room and invite guests to sit outside during the warm months of the year. You can even keep the space welcoming in fall and winter with a fire pit and a heated patio. Ultimately, when you think of your garden as an extra room, it’s the ideal spot for a relaxed and informal dinner party! You can maintain a natural environment with easy-to-manage plants or by merely keeping your lawn under control so that the decor doesn’t appear dead and wilted. Admittedly, your attention needs to focus on seating arrangements. Your guests want to be comfortable all year long, and that means raised beds, benches, and a shaded area.
Can it be an indoor garden?
If you live in a region that gets a lot of rain throughout the year, it’s fair to imagine that sitting outside is the last thing you may want to do. But you can bring the outside in with a conservatory. Conservatories tend to be built as a home extension onto the garden, ergo minimalizing the actual garden space and converting it into a new room attached to your home. Using a glass roof and glass panels, you can break through the natural border between inside and outside. Want to feel like you’re sitting in your garden without getting drenched or catching a cold? Placing houseplants in your conservatory can enhance the feeling of being outside. Besides, all you need to do when the weather is warm is to open the doors and let the fresh breeze in.
Create a place of fun
If you have young children, you probably know what they think of adding a new flower bed to the garden. They couldn’t care less about it. They want to enjoy the outdoors in the most playful way. That’s precisely why it’s a good idea to create a playground in your backyard. As more and more parents struggle with trying to juggle a hectic life and keeping the kids active. But building a fun and good playground in your garden can provide the best compromise, and you can watch the kids while working from home. For a lot of busy moms with young children, this is the best and safest alternative. Admittedly, it’s fair to say that playgrounds are not recommended for toddlers and very young children.
Your room for a hobby
Do you have a hobby that or a home-based activity that takes a lot of space inside your house? Crafters or home-based workers can find it challenging to create a home office in a small house. But you can use your garden as a base for your activities by converting your garden shed into an office or a workshop. Aside from planning for the appropriate furniture and storage facilities, you will need to work closely with an electrician and a plumber to get the necessary electricity and water extensions, so that you can plug your devices and even get a toilet in your shed.
Make it an actual extension
Last, but not least, if you don’t want to use your garden, you can consider building an extension over it. Before you do, though, you may want to clarify building permit, as large extensions require a permit. But ultimately, your garden can be the way to get a large open space kitchen or one additional bedroom for a large family. After all, if you don’t have green thumbs, there’s no need to force you to maintain a garden!
From a lush green space to an actual home extension, there is a lot of potential in your garden. As everyone is different, it’s fair to say that your ideal garden will be as unique as your family is.