How to Create A Dreamy Backyard

One of my favorite things about my house is our backyard.   Literally it was the strongest buying point for me on this house!  The yard is decent sized and there are plenty of full grown trees (in Utah!!!) including my very favorite, a huge walnut tree!

One of the very first things we did when we moved in was add a deck so that we could take advantage of this wonderful space.  Now, we spend as much time back there as we can.  It has been the home of many a party and during the spring, summer and fall we like to go eat our breakfast outside whenever possible.  In order to make this an alluring space, we have done several things to make it special.  Bear in mind, that you don’t have to have a deck to have an inviting backyard.  These tips can work for ANY sized space.   Be assured that you can create an inviting space of your own in whatever space you have by incorporating a few or all of these tips.

1.   Get rid of the pests!!  I am not one of those girls that loves to share my personal space with bugs!  Heck no!  In order to make my space inviting and comfortable this is the very first thing we had to take care of.  For example, when we first moved in, since our house had been empty for a couple years, and occupied by an older couple mostly interior bound before that, there was a CRAZY abundance of hornets everywhere!!  In fact, we have an old drying rack made of 4 inch cast iron pipes, with a big empty space!  It was practically a Hornet Hotel if you will!   That, and we  had a TON of hornets that had just moved right up into our roof and eaves.  With perfect little doorway paths made by our brick spacing.   It can be tricky to find all their little nests!!  Something had to be done.

I recommend using Hot Shot®  Wasp & Hornet Spray, then be sure you keep a can on hand to nip the problem in the bud if they come back over time.  I feel like avoiding the problem by being vigilant is the best bet.   Once we got rid of our infestation, dIt made dining outside so much more pleasant.

Remember, be very vigilant to keep them from building homes in new places, (like they tried to do under our cool coffee table) YIKES!

2. Now you need to create different spaces in your yard.  Think about what you like to do in the space.  Do you like to read, garden, nap, do yoga?  Delineating the spaces in your backyard.  Even if it is just a balcony, creating separate spaces goes a long way to making your space feel special.  On our deck for example, we have a BBQ-ing area, a quiet sitting area, a dining table and then a clear path to the rest of the yard.  By having these separate spaces, it invites us to spend more time doing different activities in the backyard.  It love stretching in the morning outside, or reading in the afternoon (if I ever have free time…), and hot chocolate on a cold night.  You name it, there are tons of things to do.

3.  Bring nature onto your hardscape spaces.  We planted a whole garden in containers this year.  Whenever we look out onto our deck, it is framed in plants, flowers, fruits and veggies.  It is such a site!  We’ve found that some plants do better than others.  Our grape tomatoes have been amazing climbing up our trellis, as well as our potted peppermint(which keeps it from taking over the yard since it is invasive).   We also have flowers, and it has been such a joy to see hummingbirds sampling the flowers!  If you don’t have a lot of space consider just few containers of flowers for use (i.e. herbs, color and fragrance.  Also, there are great plants that deter mosquitoes naturally, try citronella, lemon balm, Basil and many others (just do a Google Search) these are great for those late night BBQs.

4.  Bring some of the softness outside.  We love having outdoor pillows on chairs and access to small throw blankets in a large basket by the back door.  (We can keep bugs out of them, but also have them handy for nice long naps in the hammock.

5.  Be sure to have plenty of comfortable seats and surfaces for drinks and food if you plan to have fun parties back in your now amazing space.  I really love ceramic garden stools because they add a great punch of color and shine to the space, and they work as seats or small tables.  Here are a few favorites that I have at Amazon:  Gold Lattice, Marine Blue, Lacey Orange, Circle Lattice Teal and this white one pictured below.

6. Hang some amazing lights.  This can be simple!  From a string of Christmas lights to 100 feet of little Edison style bulb party strings.

Photo by Steven Michael Photo via Ruffled

If you have no structure to attach the lights to, no problem.  Grab some 5 gallon or cute decorative buckets, fill them with gravel and stick a 2×2 in them and string the lights to that (this would also be a great way to create a non-permanent privacy screen.

Image Source Martha Stewart

There you go, 6 great ideas for creating a magical, dream backyard space.  What fun things have you done in your backyard?

This is a sponsored post written by me on behalf of Hot Shot® Insecticides.  All opinions are my own.

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