Backyard makeovers as many types of renovations often start when a maintenance item acts as the catalyst. We have all been there before: the roof is leaking and we need new shingles and we some how end up adding a gazebo to the house. The grass is thin in one area of the yard and all of a sudden we have a truck load of landscape stone delivered. The point is we don’t need much to dream up ideas for the places where we live, but look a little deeper why a backyard makeover is one of the best investments in your home.
More Family Time
I recall an episode of the Waltons’s from the 70’s where all of the kids parents and grandparents we huddled around the radio listening to a 1940’s broadcast. Was it the radio or the content that was all captivating? My guess is that it was a place with a purpose that got the attention from kids from 1 to 92. A backyard is the perfect often blank platform to make a place with purpose. When creating the makeover the backyard needs to address all of the stakeholders. Here is a short list:
* Slow spaces
* Active time area
* The meeting place
* The food and watering hole
* The postcard image
Consider these as you plan the backyard makeover, everyone needs somewhere to feel comfort. If you want to play croquet have not only and area to play but a place where you can access the equipment easily when Sunday after supper there is a window of 45 minutes for the group to play. People always say they just love a picnic, well if we love them so much why are they so infrequent. Usually there is some pain involved called preparation time. You can’t find the Napkins or the plastic glasses, where did I leave them last summer??? If you want to eat outside you meed to plan the makeover to include a kitchen or at least kitchen space. If you aren’t sure where to start there all kinds of links with great ideas.
Increased property value
The first thing to note is this is 2015 and not 1960, even the Real Estate people have stopped saying those crazy words ” you will never get your money back if you do that”. Many national reports come out each year about why you just shouldn’t feel guilty about dressing up the year but that the money will come back to you when you are ready to move on. The stunning thing is that when you add or renovate inside your 4 walls you can often be investing $300 plus dollars per square foot and not receiving the same return on sale. With the backyard makeover numbers you often are looking at investing less than $30 per square foot with full return.
Backyard makeover planning
Ask your family, keep a list on the fridge door of what things they feel they would use the most. Rank them from 1-10, once you have a pecking order get a paper and pencil out and start sketching your yard once you think you are out of ideas then its time to do a check in with a yard designer. Don’t wait for something to go wrong before you start planning, we get enough surprises…
