Fall 2020 One Room Challenge - Week 2: Backyard Design Direction
/It’s Week 2 of the Better Homes and Gardens One Room Challenge and we are in the demo phase of Grant’s backyard - taking down the fence, pulling up patio stones and bringing in a skid steer to dig the foundation for our patio and gardens. I took a week of vacation from work work to close our other house, move everything to Grant’s, work on the backyard with my brother-in-law David and finalize our selections for the space.
As you all know, Grant loves brown. When I stepped inside his home for the first time, through the front door of his brown brick home, I saw brown painted walls, brown hardwood flooring, a brown piano, brown wood coffee table and brown couch. We get it - he loves brown. I worked with it inside his home, painting the walls a bright white and trimming everything in a warm cream colour. I worked with the hardwood floors, piano and coffee table, by brining in a creamy wool area rug, beige chenille club chairs and creamy pattern through throw pillows.
In order for a seamless transition from the inside of Grant’s home through the kitchen door and out to his backyard, we’re going to follow the same formula of cream and brown again - like hot chocolate and marshmallows after the marshmallows have melted - perfect for a late fall reveal!
Inspiration
Knowing that we’d be working on the backyard either this year or next I started pinning ideas and found myself drawn to two major sources of inspiration: Room for Tuesday and House 1924 for completely different reasons.
With Room for Tuesday, I was drawn to their backyard and shed makeovers with that same brown and cream scheme that I had in mind.
With House 1924 it was this image of the perfect gate with a swooped top, centred on the fence.
Since seeing this perfect gate on Pinterest I became a very loyal (or stalkerish) follower on Instagram, anxiously awaiting their posts and stories hoping to catch a glimpse of the gardens behind the swooped gates and one day it happened …
I loved that the walkway ran down the middle of two separate gardens with one larger shrub on either side. I had pictured doing this in Grant’s backyard with a pair of Chanticleer Pear trees (with leaves that turn bright red in the fall). I had also pictured hosta and anemone plantings and climbing white roses. I knew I needed to bring this idea to life in our design direction.
Design Direction
Inspired by these talented bloggers and their spaces, we’re going to add similar elements but in our own way including:
a brick patio
black iron fire pit
brown woven outdoor couches & chairs with cushions
teak, cedar or acacia wood outdoor dining table and chairs
3 distinct seating areas (dining, lounging and working)
cladding the old shed with outdoor siding and painting it a warm cream colour to work with the siding on the house
symmetrical gardens with lots of evergreen shrubs, white flowers and shade perennials
new cedar or brown pressure treated fence (during a pandemic wood shortage)
gate with a swooped top
As of this moment we’ve started laying bricks on the patio, split a lot of shade perennials from our old home to plant in the new gardens and bought three pear trees to anchor the landscape design. We picked up our shed paint from Sherwin-Williams and are hoping the weather clears for at least a day to replace the siding on the old shed.
Stay tuned for weekly updates here, more inspiration on my Pinterest and more frequent updates on Instagram. Please also take a look at the progress other guest participants and featured designers are making with their spaces.
Carley
