The things that stayed

1. The cedar hedge which offered oodles of privacy.

2. The boxwood hedge that lined the driveway, added greenery and softened the concrete edges.

3. The front flowerbed that followed the curve of the road and again softened the edges.

The things we changed…well now the list gets much longer.

1. We replaced the vinyl siding on a natural focal point of the house with cedar shingles. This added color and texture to the front of the house. To carry the cedar over we did a cedar trim over the door and encased an existing post with cedar boards.

2. We also replaced the vinyl siding on the lower half of the house with stone adding again texture and color.

3. On top of this, we decked out the garage door with a new paint color and replaced the upper panels with windows.

One of the big challenges with the front of this house was drawing the eye to the front door which was set off to the side and under cover.

I made several changes to help bring the eye naturally to the front door.

1. I painted the front door blue so it would visually stand out, but yet coordinate with the stone on the house.

2. I took out a couple of boxwood’s in front of the door and added a flagstone path through the garden area and front lawn to lead foot traffic and the eye directly to the door.

3. The brass hardware and light fixtures were replaced with black. I added a hand forged wrought iron door knocker and a black kick plate. The brass mailbox and an old doorbell were painted black.

4. An old weathered wood and iron garden bench was placed by the front door with a couple of throw pillows to accent the door color. I also added a blue mosaic tile planter.

Extremely happy with the end result and my husband would say “I better be”as we did invest a bit of money in the curb appeal of our home.

The great thing about outdoor living spaces, is you can simply have fun! This is the area to let your playful side take over. I love adding decorative items to my flower beds to create little vignettes throughout the yard.  I live on the West Coast of Canada so items like cool pieces of drift wood and rocks are a must. A more unique item I have is  a red and white ships funnel that I salvaged from the scrap metal bin and put it in one of my flower beds. I love it for the pop of color it adds to the yard year round, as well as, the fact that it is unexpected. Adding little gems like these can be real conversation starters, especially when placed around entertaining areas. Other unique items we have found while combing local beaches are glass fishing balls, old signs and life rings.

Drift wood pieces can be used to hang containers which hold tea lights. During the day these containers are purely decorative while at night they make the flowerbeds come alive with a subtle light source.

Water fountains add a wonderful feeling of relaxation and should be placed near a sitting area if possible, where we can enjoy them. I created this beautiful, but simple little fountain with a metal stand and a large glass bowl purchased at a second-hand shop. We did not have a power source to the fountains location so I purchased a solar-powered pump from a local garden shop. This was the most expensive part of the project. I added small beach rocks, beach glass and an Abalone shell to hide the fountain itself in the glass bowl. The end result…STUNNING!

Of course if you are a nature lover, (and have no felines!) no yard would be complete without a bird feeder and bathing station. Ours is a simple bird bath set in a more secluded and shaded section of the yard. During the hot summer months this area of the yard is teeming with activity. The kids Love it! Oh, and the birds do too!