Category Archives: ~Gardening

How to Transform Your Outdoor Space for Entertaining

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Image Source: Unsplash

Make the most of the great outdoors and turn your outdoor space into a retreat. Create the ultimate space for relaxing, entertaining and occupying the kids with these great ideas.

Make a fire pit

What’s not to love about roasting marshmallows by the fire? Enjoy this ultimate family-bonding activity by spending nights by the fire. You’ll be able to enjoy the fire and keep warm – even during the wintertime.

Spruce up your space with a fire pit centrepiece. Buy one ready-made or make your own in a few hours with pavers and concrete. Build a bench around the fire pit piled with cushions for that campfire feel or surround the fire with outdoor deck chairs.

Create a play area

Keep the kids entertained for hours on end with a dedicated play area. A swing set, slide and trampoline are popular ideas to turn your garden into a kid’s paradise. On the creative side, you could set up an outdoor crafts area. Or bring the beach to you in Summer by creating a sandpit alongside a kids paddle pool. Continue the beach feel with a hammock strung between two palm trees.

Plant a vegetable garden

Growing your own edible garden is incredibly rewarding. It’s also a great hobby for the kids and a great way to teach them about sustainability.

Rhubarb, rosemary and tomatoes are amongst the easiest plants to grow. They are great options to start with if you’re not already a gardening guru.

Consider a net to keep the birds from eating your hard-earned produce.

Image Source: Unsplash

Install a pool or a spa pool

Take the plunge and add a swimming pool to your house. Not only will it add value to your home, but the number of summer memories will be priceless.

If space is a problem or you’d prefer a place to relax, consider a spa pool. This is a cheaper option compared to the pool, and you could use it year-round, even when it’s sub-zero outside.

Provide comfortable seating

Create a comfortable outdoor area you actually want to spend time in. There are endless options for comfortable seating, including sofas, loungers and dining sets.

If you love to entertain but are pushed for space, consider a colourful set of stacking chairs. This lets you add a pop of colour to your backyard but still have the freedom to store them away easily when needed.

Set up an outdoor kitchen

The outdoor kitchen is an up-and-coming trend perfect for entertainers and socialites.

Clear a patio area for a BBQ and ample bench space for preparation. Set up an outdoor fridge for a mini-bar and even consider a wood-fired pizza oven. Don’t miss out on enjoying the outdoors when you’re cooking. Instead, be in the centre of the action in your outdoor kitchen.

Image Source: Pxhere

 Fix large doors

Great indoor-outdoor flow is a must-have for many homeowners. Treat your garden area as an extension of your living area.

The easiest way to create this indoor-outdoor flow is through large doors. Choose from the many options including folding, bi-folding, French, retractable and sliding doors. To completely open up your home to the great outdoors, consider fitting sliding doors on two perpendicular walls.

Put up outdoor lighting

String lights will transform your outdoor space into an enchanted garden. Drive out the darkness with this elegant touch. Hang them near your outdoor dining area for late-night dinner parties or near your lounging area where you can curl up with a blanket and a good book.

Refreshing and updating your outdoor space can be tailored to suit all budgets. It can be as simple and effortless as adding string lights to the patio area or as extravagant as building a poolside slice of paradise. It’s up to you to choose what works best for your home.

Author bio:

Alex Cordier is a freelance writer from Auckland, New Zealand. When she’s not busy writing articles for various blogs, you can find her traveling or reading on the beach. To learn more about her, visit her personal blog.

Garden Art using Old Pots And Pants And Utensils

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We all have old pots and pans sitting around that we don’t want to get rid of or don’t know what to do with them. Here is a simple solution using a combination of these to make a flower garden with wooden cheap wood. Using 1″ x 1″ by whatever length you desire piece of cheap molding as a base with the same cut into 2′ and 3′ sections for the flower stalk use the example in the picture to create the base and stems of the flowers. Paint green. Here the flowers are screwed to the fence but you can make them free standing by using two foot sections of rebar. Pound into ground and wire to garden structure. Paint metal pots and pans in a color scheme that fits your like using Krylon outdoor paint that is designed to adhere to plastic and metal an dis designed to be outside. Spray well with two coats. You can leave them like this or can use small paintbrushes to paint tiny designs on them. Drill through the metal pans to make a hole. Screw on to wood stems. E6000 or liquid nails can be used to attach small pans inside others.

Terra Cotta Saucer And Pot – Make Mushrooms For Your Garden

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We all know all the cool project you can make with Terra cotta pots and saucers. These are cool and very easy to make. Use any combination of sizes to make a non-unified look. Paint with your own style using acrylic pain. It will soak a bit into the saucer/pot so a second coat might be needed. You can certainly just set them on top of each other or glue them together with liquid nails or E6000. Carry this project further by adding little miniature figures of elves and fairies on top and make it look like this is their own secret world. This project is cheap and using existing items you already have increases your savings.

Lamp & Bowl Art For Your Garden

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I found this great idea on the internet and wanted to share. These are mushrooms made from bowls and candlesticks and the larger ones are made from lamps. They are so unique and would be a great spruce up for recycled art in your garden. The best thing is you can source the materials from your old items or cheaply at any thrift or yard sale.

There are a variety of methods to make these and vary on the items you are using. The easiest is to drill a pilot hole through the bowl and into the candlestick or lamp post. Screw a large heavy duty screw through bowl and into lamp post or candlestick. You need to use a drill bit designed for the metal you are using. If you have a smooth surface between the inside of your bowl and the stem then you can use epoxy.

To paint you will need a spray paint like Krylon that is designed to adhere to metal. You can paint them traditional type colors or get really funky with the color choice.

Make them yours. You can also glue little accessories on them like little gnomes or fairies. Moss and pebbles glued on the the base where it sits in your garden will make them loo like they have been there for a long time.

 

Ways to Make Your Front Yard More Social

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When thinking about exterior renovations, most people think about introducing changes to their backyard and spicing it up a bit. While this makes a lot of sense in the long run – after all, the backyard is where most of us hang out with our friends and spend quality time with our families – it’s still not the only exterior space that needs your attention. The front yard could use some love and care as well, and that’s something people rarely do in this day and age. So, instead of focusing on your backyard only, you could find ways to make the space in front of your home more special and inviting as well, and here are some of the best ways to do that.

Do Some Regular Maintenance

Before you can use your front yard and invite people to visit you, make sure your front yard is in the best shape possible. Luckily, these things are easy to handle, and it’s all about mowing the lawn, trimming the hedges, cleaning the trash, and decluttering the entire area from time to time.

What’s great about these things is that you don’t have to do them every single day, but you will need to dedicate your time and patience to them at least once a week. So, figure out what needs to be done, create a mowing schedule for the entire year, find time in your daily agenda, and start handling these things one by one.

Extend Your Patio

Most of us already have a patio in front of our houses, but the problem is that we don’t make the most of it at all. Instead of actually spending time here, we just use the patio as a welcoming area for all our visitors and guests, but that’s just not enough if you want to turn your front yard into your primary outdoor area for socialization.

What you can do, though, is extend your patio into the yard, and basically turn it into a continual space that will connect your home to your front lawn. It goes without saying that you need to maintain it first and make it ready for hanging out there, but you should also think about a pathway. If you choose to do that, use the same material as for your patio – whether it’s concrete, stone, bricks, or tile, using the same material is always better and easier than looking for another solution.

Build a Deck

This is probably the best and most effective way to introduce a massive change into your home and your front yard as well – building a deck is ultimately what’s going to turn the space in front of your home into a space where you can socialize with your friends and family. This deck doesn’t have to be too big, of course, but it needs to be stable, durable, and actually useful.

Even though building a deck on your own sounds like the most creative way to spend your weekend, it still isn’t the best idea in the world, especially if you have no skills, tools, ideas, and previous experience. That’s why hiring a professional who can build you a great deck is the way to go – not only is your deck going to be visually appealing, but it will also blend into your exterior style rather seamlessly. So, take this idea into consideration, and you’ll be able to throw parties on your deck sooner than you’ve thought.

Be Creative with the Lights

Spending time in the open usually means hanging out with your friends all day long, but that doesn’t mean your get-togethers need to stop. On the contrary, nobody can stop you from staying there until morning, if that’s something you love, but you will need to take care of your exterior lighting first.

Whether you have a deck, a patio, or a porch, there are a few easy solutions you can look into – for instance, you can add as many candles as you can, light them, and you’ll create an amazing atmosphere in a matter of minutes. This will create a great vibe for you and your friends, and that’s something you can’t put a price on. You can also invest in a great walkway, and thus take the look of your outdoor space to a whole new level. From solar lamps and string lights to lanterns and accent lights, there are lots of ideas you can choose from, so don’t be afraid to turn the ones you like the most into reality.

 

Spicing up your front yard isn’t as difficult and challenging as most people think, and it’s all about giving it the love and attention it deserves – in the end, if you do everything right, you can spend hours and hours there whenever you want, socializing with all the people you love.