Transforming Your Outdoors Into a Personal Retreat

Your home is everything you want and more. It offers great comfort at the end of your busy week. It's truly a place where you enjoy spending time. However, what about your yards? If you have a backyard and it's not being used, you're missing an opportunity to expand upon your living space and create a place that brings much joy to you, your family, and your friends. The good news is that by making a few changes to your outdoors, you can achieve a personal retreat.

A Clean Slate

The best approach to beginning the transformation of your backyard is to start with a clean slate. This means that you'll more than likely need to dedicate a weekend to cleaning and clearing away debris and clutter. Put on a good pair of outdoor work gloves and gather your lawnmower, cutting shears, leaf blower, and wheelbarrow, and get ready to get dirty. Starting with a clean yard with allow you to better envision the outcome you want.

The Design

Once you have the yard clear, it's time to draw up plans on what you want to incorporate into the space. For instance, if you like to entertain and have a large family, you may want to invest in a state-of-the-art outdoor kitchen. As you get ideas and plans of different types, you can purchase outdoor kitchen design software to help you better visualize everything. The most important part of drawing up plans for your backyard is to make sure that you have the space for everything you want to include ahead of time, prior to actually purchasing items.

Realizing a Dream

Once you have the sketches completed, it's time you start on your landscaping. If you already have a lawn in place and a garden then you're already half-way there. However, if your backyard is without a foundation, you'll need to start from scratch, beginning with the soil in which you will plant your seeds, plants, and flowers. You'll also want to cover tree bottoms with mulch, add a fresh coat of paint to your fence, and stain your deck. With the help of The Local Tree Experts, they can surely help turn your dream backyard into reality.

Adding the Furniture

Selecting the right pieces of furniture for your outdoors is critical, especially if you want them to last for more than a year or so. All of the furnishings you choose should be made of weather-resistant materials and you should have a storage shed where you can store most of the items during the winter months. You should also incorporate a bit of your heritage into the space to make it a place you feel warm and have peace of mind. You may want to create several layouts with different pieces and then select the one that feels right.

Set the Mood with Color

Adding color through your landscaping turns an otherwise ordinary space into a warm and welcoming environment. Just make sure that you have a mix of annuals and perennials so that your outdoors is always vibrant and uplifting. It's also a good choice to include some low to the ground plants for cover as well as plants that stand tall for added depth.

The Finishing Touches

Don't be afraid to take your outdoor design as far as you did when decorating your home's interior. The finishing touches - such as a compact refrigerator for convenience while entertaining and an actual mini waterfall to help add soothing sound effects will further enhance the look and feel of the backyard transformation.

Whether your taste is contemporary, modern or vintage style, you can change up the look of your outdoors and turn it into an extension of your home. Start with a clean slate, embrace color, stay true to your heritage and select long-lasting pieces. In the end, you'll have a place you'll want to share with your family and friends.