Small and Simple Backyard Renovation
Looking for some ideas on remodeling an outdoor space without going too crazy? Renovating outdoor spaces is one of our favorite ways to add value to a home, largely because it doesn’t impact our living situation the same way that a kitchen remodel would, and because we can really transform a space without spending a fortune by keeping things super simple! Here’s a walkthrough on our recent backyard transformation.
The backyard had a great deck when we moved in, although we will eventually paint it a different color than red. The other half of the yard was once a lawn, but the previous occupants seemed to have let it go. Truth be told we didn’t really want to maintain grass, so we didn’t try to grow it back.
Similar to our last backyard reno, we opted for a nice chunk of turf from Granite Rock. We definitely splurged on high quality turf and we invested in a healthy layer of base rock underneath, properly compacted and cut nice and clean. The result is exactly what we were looking for – a great place to sit outside with our lab and enjoy early afternoon sun in the Dunes.
We love adding color with flowers and plants so we lined Bougainvilleas along the fence and installed a drip system to automate most maintenance. The goal was simplicity and convenience while still looking tasteful. Around the plants we filled in 2 inch river rocks. The color is “Buff” from the Del Rey Oaks garden center. We love this color and the size of the rocks!
The side yard and edges of the turf were bark, dirt, and overgrown plants, so we took out the plants and re-homed the ones we could, then replaced the bark with pavers set in a pretty pattern and secured with a layer of sand on top.
There are always hiccups with these things, so in our case we had too little turf and too many pavers. Isabel had the best idea to create a second patio on the other side of the yard, it was a great workaround and now we sit there more than we use the deck 🙂 My Dad helped hang the outdoor lights, we’ll probably do another post on that.