It’s the time of year when I start pretending our backyard looks like this:
Ikea Summer 2010 ad, seen on Making it Lovely
Of course the reality is that our yard needs major work. The fence along the back is falling down, part of the fence is chain link and part is wood, our neighbor cut down all of the shrubs&vines overgrowth that kept our backyard feeling private, there is no grass to speak of (thanks dogs), and there is a weird concrete foundation of sorts (complete with nubs of rebar sticking out of it) extending beyond the porch that we’ve been ignoring for the past year and a half. Oh and Robert got himself a very large, ugly shed. (I love you, honey! And yes, white with hunter green was the lesser of many, many evils, but it is still a corrugated metal shed. And while I do love corrugated metal, I prefer it’s unpainted state…)
The front yard is not much better. Anything green is probably weeds, the bushes are dying & need to be ripped out, there are two plastic adirondack chairs (which we got for free from my parents’ neighbor) that keep falling over in the wind, there is a large ball of some plant sort resembling Elephant Ears near the corner that is currently half-dead, and companies keep leaving their cards in our mailbox about our beloved oak trees. Apparently the trees are dead, hollow and threaten our house & cars during every major storm. (Hello hurricane season, how are you doing.) BUT I LOVE THEM! Yes, yes I know, our house is more important than a couple old trees. But it makes me so sad. I keep forgetting to ask my uncle to look at them when he’s in town. Probably because I’ll cry if he says they need to be removed. And then I’ll Google “what is the fastest growing shade tree”, and cry when they’re 1) expensive and 2) probably can’t grow in Florida.
Back to the point. Ideally I would like to replace the plastic chairs with green wooden ones (because when your gorgeous trees are allegedly being eaten alive by some sort of wood destroying organism it’s perfectly rational to put wooden chairs in your yard). If the trees have to go, I’m going to demand request we build a scale version of the gazebo we got married in. The one below is similar, but the one from our wedding had a wider opening and a small step or two down.
source
from World Market
In the backyard I want a patio, I’m thinking a hybrid of the one YHL had at their old house, the one Sara at Russet Street Reno has and the one Rebecca & Mike at The Lil House are planning. In my fantasy the patio is complete with a table for eating outside in the mosquitos and an umbrella to blow over in hurricanes. (I’m an opimist, obviously.) In reality, our patio would be a crap because I am a killer of all plants, even cacti. (It’s a miracle my 5th grade totmatoes survived. I think my mom had a lot to do with that though.) But a girl can dream, right?
from Russet Street Reno
Until we have money for any of that I’ll just be living vicariously through other bloggers. Or sitting on their patios while they’re at work (in the least creepy stalker way possible, obviously).
What do y’all think about white shutters vs blue shutters? Should the planter stay the same color as the house? Also, if anyone else has curb appeal projects planned I’d love to hear about them!
