GARDENING & backyard update – WHAT I’VE DONE SO FAR.

Hiii! Okay, a little backyard update for you guys.

If you’ve been following on Instagram, then you know all the drama that’s been going on about the backyard there. LOL. The White fence Vs. Black fence debate continues.

But I wanted to share some fun backyard ideas and inspirations in case you were planning on doing up your own backyard for the summer.

One major thing Andrew and I wanted for our new house was a beautiful backyard. Somewhere to hangout for evening cocktails, watch the sunset, take in the warm weather, BBQ some good food, and when allowed, entertain!! (We’re dying to entertain!)

It has been so much fun to sit and plan our ideas for the backyard. Of course, as most of you already know, landscaping can come at a huge cost. We have BIG backyard ideas, but we have to take it year by year. But having a little sanctuary was important to have right away.

So here’s what we did for the yard so far. Maybe this will help you come up with some backyard ideas of your own!

BACKYARD IDEAS & INSPO:

GARDENING & PLANTING:

I’ll start off by saying, I’m NO expert in the gardening department. So, whatever you read here, make sure you do your own research. LOL.

But, my best friend, Victoria is sort of an expert. She’s got a FULL garden with everything you can think of. Tomatoes, corn, garlic, onions, beans, asparagus, all kinds of lettuce, etc. So, I took her with me when we went to the garden centre.

Once piece of advice when growing a garden is, start small. You want to test out the waters and grow slowly. Planting a huge garden right away might be a bit overwhelming. So, with my garden I’m growing Jalapeno peppers, Lemon Thyme, Italian Thyme, Rosemary, Cilantro, Boston Lettuce, and two kinds of Cherry tomatoes. I know that seems like a lot, but it’s really not. All the herbs are in one pot, and I’ve got two other pots for the lettuce and cherry tomatoes.

I’m LOVING the process so far! If you’re a beginner gardener, start out with something like that. There is SO much to learn about growing these kinds of veggies. I’m constantly YouTube-ing how to harvest lettuce, how much water/sun these plants need, etc.

CUTE PLANTERS:

Planters make your backyard very cute as well. I went with a couple natural wood planters, and for flowers, I’m doing mainly white. We have some “palm tree” plants in white pots that frame our staircase, which look super tropical. I wanted a chic, Beverly Hills, Cali feeling in the backyard. A relaxed vibe for sure.

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STRING LIGHTS:

Another great backyard idea is to have string lights going from one end to another. This makes it SO cozy at night time, and really gives you a chill vibe. A great place for cocktails at sunset. Someone on Instagram asked me to explain exactly how we hung the string lights up. I’ll be honest, it was all Andrew. But, I did stand there looking cute while I held his drill. (This is not meant to be sexual in anyway…)

So, very quickly I will breakdown how we hung them: You need to measure the total length on both walls. You want your string lights to be sort of equal distance apart from each other so it looks balanced.

TIP: Don’t put your bulbs on until you’ve hung your lights, incase you drop your string lights when hanging them. If you drop it, all your bulbs will break. LOL.

Once you know where they are going, you will need to hang hooks. It all depends on what material you are drilling into. We were drilling into brick. So, make sure you have a drill that can go through brick. Place your hooks where you want them.

On the other end we needed tall black poles because our fence wasn’t the same height as the other side wall. We zip tied the string lights to that side, and viola! That is the short, quick version of how we hung the string lights.

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PAINTING RETAINING WALL:

So this retaining wall was driving me crazy because it was this ugly brown colour. See before photos. I absolutely hated the sight of it, and wanted it changed immediately. It was 100% throwing off my Bev Hills backyard vibes, you know? So, I decided that I wanted the retaining walls white. But when I took to Instagram that I wanted to paint it white (and thank God I did!) SO many of you advised against it. I had tons of DMs with people who loved the idea of white, but said it’s way too hard to maintain and that it gets dirty so quickly and starts to look like shit.

I had then put up a question box and asked the people of Instagram what colour I should go with instead, and many said black or grey. There were some other interesting colour suggestions, but we all know how I feel about colour. Unless we’re doing a bright pink wall, I’m most likely going to stick to black or white.

It was then that I looked up inspirations of black fences/retaining walls, and immediately LOVED the way it looked. I was pretty much sold on white until I started looking at black wall inpos. Black was so chic and just screaming the vibes I wanted.

I did some research on really good outdoor paint. The kind that is weather resistant, doesn’t need any priming, and can be painted over already painted walls. Sherwin Williams Duration – Exterior is what we went with. We went with a flat black colour, which is matte black, and GUYS, I LOVE IT. I love the way it turned out, and I’m so happy with went with black instead of white. Just obsessed.

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There is still a lot we want to do with the backyard, but like I said, landscaping can be very costly. So, it’s best to take it slowly. Start with a few things that need your attention immediately – like a brown retaining wall. LOL.

There are many budget-friendly ways to spruce up your space. I hope you guys got some inspo from this post.

Do you have any cool backyard ideas? Drop them in the comments. I’d love to hear your thoughts on the matte black retaining wall. What do you guys think?!

Xx, kim

++ If you liked this post, check out Chic Home Decor I’m Loving!

+++ Oh, and Buying A House In 2021!

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