Upgrade Your Outddoor Space
Upgrade Your Outddoor Space
Our yards and gardens are a little oasis away from everyday life...make the most of it!
Written by The Stay Sane Mom Staff | See Comments | Updated 01/04/2022
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Upgrade Your Outddoor Space
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Often our gardens are a little oasis away from everyday life. In the summer, they could be used to relax and enjoy some sunshine. To watch children or pets play and bathe in that warm summer sun.
We can have high trees, shrubs, and hedges that seclude the garden a little more, offering a private place to relax quietly. To sip cool drinks on warm days - and if time permits, read a book.
In the last few years, there has been a rise in people entertaining in gardens of all shapes and sizes. Complete garden dining sets are available in beautifully finished wood, solid and sustainable plastic options, as well as those beautiful metal bistros.
But from time to time, when you look out the window, you want to add a little bit more oomph to your garden space.
Scrub that fence
If you look out into your garden, either the front or the back garden or whatever space you have; when was the last time you gave that a good clean? Sure it's probably been raining, but that's not the same thing.
Instead, you're going to need a scrubbing brush to get out of there and use elbow grease to clean it down. Once it's thoroughly cleaned, you've prepped it, ready for a fresh coat of stain. This is the perfect opportunity to change the color of your fence panels if you have been thinking about it for some time.
Birdhouse
If you aren't very good at DIY, you might not want to make your bird boxes from wood scraps. So don’t worry they're easy to put together and can be bought as kits. You can paint them any color you want and encourage wildlife to come into your garden.
After all, is there anything as extraordinary as waking up and listening to birds singing in your garden? Very few things in life offer such a simple pleasure.
Birdbath
Since you put the birdhouses up, it makes sense that you should feed and water your new little feathered friends. A birdbath in the summer can be a fantastic thing to watch as a splash around and play in the water. And you can also add some bird feeders carefully dotted around the garden.
You should keep an eye on the bird feeder if you happen to have squirrels and perhaps find one that is squirrel-proof. Often, squirrels and other bigger birds will come and take all of the delicious treats you have put out for the smaller Birds.
Lighting
We often think about the small solar-powered path lighting or motion sensor safety lights when we talk about garden lighting. And while these are both brilliant ideas, there are so many more things you can do when it comes to your garden lighting.
NightScenes Landscape Lighting Professionals offer a fresh take on your garden lighting. So that you can have something that is completely suited to the dimensions of your home and highlights all of the best features of your garden at night.
Garden lighting is also an essential safety feature. It can highlight the pathing so that you can see where it is in the dark, but it could also mean that any of those darker spaces you can't see into well can be lit up.
You could also use a combination of outside fairy lights and fairy lights inside Kilner jars to add a soft and romantic feature to your garden.
Add a Canopy
For the last few years, one of the most popular features has been canopies in the garden. During the day they let plenty of light in since the slats are well spaced. They also offer the ideal place to wrap fairy lights and other intricate details if you often entertain outside.
One of the things to do to your canopy is to add some simple and very light voile curtains. They can offer a little bit of shade as the sun heats up and some privacy if you should feel like it.
You can buy these canopies already made, or you can have a go at DIYing a canopy yourself.
So if you are ready to make some soul and simple changes to upgrade your garden or even splash out on a few luxury options, here are things for you to consider.
Make a Wildflower Garden
A wildflower garden in the middle of a busy city can be a welcome sight to butterflies, bees, and other pollinating insects. Wildflower gardens don't take any maintenance, so it's something that you can plant and ignore.
Wildseed flower bombs or boxes filled with multiple different types of a perfect way to start your wild garden off.
Creating a bee-friendly garden is a great way to help the environment. It also means if you typically have a very well-manicured lawn and lots of other sleek edgings, a wildflower garden area can add a little pop of color and interest.
Edge the Lawn
Lawn edging is one of the easiest things you can do to turn a slightly messy border into something with definition. You could choose small wooden fencing, or you could go for something a little bit more robust and have a cement edge fitted.
Once you have decided on a material you want to use, a lawn edging can take as little as an hour to have done, depending on the size that you wish to have edged.
It doesn't take much to upgrade your outdoor space to somewhere that you can't wait to spend time in. Try to add things that are low in maintenance, so all you need to do is spend a few hours cleaning them down or trimming them at most.
Are you trying to work out how to have a beautiful garden that's also functional and child-friendly? Then don't worry, plenty of parents have got some tried and tested methods to share. Check out this excellent post and get just the right balance: How to Have Kids and a Beautiful Yard (at the Same Time) | Stay Sane Mom.
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About the Author
The Stay Sane Mom Staff
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Occasionally we post blogs that are a team effort from The Stay Sane Mom staff. Fear not, these are still up to our quality standards, they just don't come from any one person (rather the team at large). As my 4-year-old says, teamwork makes the dream work.