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I was flipping through a magazine and came across an article about a landscape designer that transformed her narrow backyard (160 x 24 feet) into a private, lush retreat. The pictures are stunning. Essentially, she has three rooms: a dining area, a living room type area, and a little hideaway area. Her space includes beautiful all-weather furniture and cushions with punchy pillows, perfectly manicured plants and hedges, a gas fire table, outdoor lighting, and even a water feature.
So what are we “regular Joes” to do? First, let’s not compare ourselves to a landscape designer with a bottomless budget. Then we can decide what we want from our outdoor space. Is it for gardening? A place space for small children? Entertaining? Just to lounge? Or for all purposes?
I like to start with the furniture. There are so many choices out there; gone are the days of choosing between uncomfortable wire or weak wicker. Metal now comes in a variety of styles—modern, vintage, or retro. Today’s durable plastic looks like wood or basket weave. There is also wood and wicker; although in our area, I would shy away from it. I have wood Adirondack chairs that sit on my front porch, and even under a roof, they need new paint every other year.
After you pick your furniture, add another layer with cushions and pillows. Often furniture sets come with cushions; if you like the color, then just add some custom pillows for that punch of color or just so it won’t look so factory stamped. If you don’t like the color your set came with, new cushion covers can be made for a minimal investment. There are so many fun outdoor fabrics available. You can go nautical, trendy, animal, stripe, floral, or tropical. You can also find solid outdoor fabrics in a variety of colors and add color or pattern in just the pillows. I went with a wide black and white stripe on my black furniture. My pillows are also oversized with a coordinating black and white stripe.
Add an umbrella or two or three, depending on your yard size. I recommend solid color umbrellas, and if you choose to have several, keep them all the same color. I have red. My yard is also very small, but I have one for the table and one for my double chaise. Umbrellas not only help with shade from the sun, but they also add a little privacy and coziness that often gets lost outside.
Now you need “walls.” They can be actual walls made from privacy fences, or you might choose trellises with climbing vines or hedges or a tall water feature or sculpture. There really are so many possibilities. Surrounding my backyard, I have two privacy fences, and entrance to the yard is via a trellis archway on one side of the garage. One privacy fence is covered by bittersweet vines and another side by grapevines. It’s really very pretty and green by midsummer.
Next—and the part I struggle with the most—plants. Plants in pots, plants in the ground; there are so many options here that if you struggle like me, it may pay off to invest in a landscape artist to design it for you. Do keep our area in mind; any plants going in the ground need to be hardy in keeping with our zone in order to survive our winters.
Last, add the “details”: outdoor lighting, bunting or flags, birdhouses, etc. Don’t go overboard here or it will fast look cluttered instead of cute, junky instead of charming! I’ve strung fat-bulbed outdoor lights across my backyard, added some bunting on my front porch, and included a couple handmade whimsical birdhouses from my nephew.
Just have fun with it and do what works for you and your family. Don’t worry about what that landscape designer in Oregon is doing …
*Image credits: Phaendin/Shutterstock and Vintage Hearts
