When we moved into our new house back in September, we had very little landscaping. We were so excited to move in and get out of Airbnbs that, at the time, we didn’t really care. There was a large hole dug for our pool and nothing but red clay surrounding our black house. If you know red clay, you know how completely awful and invasive it is! Thankfully, we have a large wooded, natural area and a mature bamboo grove on our lot so we could at least look out our windows and doors to see the lush green beyond the red mud. We knew living with mud and without grass would be challenging with three boys and a dog so we quickly got to work.
Coming from a less than quarter acre lot to more than triple that size was a bit overwhelming in terms of scale. We are thrilled to have the extra space to spread out and roam about, but we knew more planning and plantings would be necessary to build an exterior space we love. We took to paper, designing and drawing a landscape plan and cobbling together materials. Much of the decisions were made on the fly and in the field, researching along the way. With the help of our contractor and landscape crew, we successfully created a good, solid foundation of hard and soft scapes.
By design, our house, with it’s open floor plan, large windows and glass doors, was created to maximize indoor/outdoor living. With Spring’s arrival, our design focus shifted back outside. We’ve been adding furniture and more plantings. Our ultimate goal is to bring the outdoors in and enjoy our outdoor areas as extensions of the interior, blurring the line between the inside and outside. And with everyone home more these days, who couldn’t use a little extra square footage, even, AND especially if, it’s outdoors? I know our family of five sure can!
We’re dreaming and working away with much on our to-do list, always inspired by dreamy exterior spaces. Here are some we’re loving right now!
,
