You see, when we moved into our house there was a perfectly good (albeit above ground) pool in the back yard. It had a lovely deck area around it and fit perfectly between the garage and our neighbors property. With one tiny baby, Hubs and I enjoyed an occasional jaunt to the pool after Big boy was asleep. We had extended family pool parties and I even gave some of them free reign to come on over and jump in any time they wanted to.
Well, our own little family grew. First we had Monkey and then Hubs got me a red headed step-child (a.k.a. his yucky dog). In a great moment of genius, I decided we should get rid of the pool to make room for more play space and a kennel.
We were lucky to come by a bu*tt lo*ad of free pea gravel. So after the pool and deck were finally painfully slowly taken down piece by painstakingly slow piece, we filled in the sandy areas with pea gravel. And now we have ourselves a huge gravelly spot with a kennel in the corner and a plastic play set out in our yard. It's about a 30 x 40 foot rectangular area with fence on two sides, garage on another and open to the rest of our yard right smack dab in the front.
As many of you know, we have been trying to sell our house FOR.EV.ER! This area is probably a drawback to potential buyers. This is where you come in.
Throw me your (cheapest) design ideas. Firepits, gardens, patios, and anything else you can think of. Let me hear it!
Feeling all Good Samaritan-ny? Head over to Shannon's where you can help out other lost souls with dilemnas just like mine, or maybe even worse.
**Updated to add the picture.
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10 comments:
hmmm... a photo might help me have a better Idea of what your dealing with... Is the swingset in the gravel? of so, try laying some railroad ties, or similar divider type item around the area, square it off if it's round, and then throw a buttload of cheap mulch over the whole thing. it can then be the "play area" in the otherwise luscious backyard. hth
Thanks for the photo. Too much stuff!! Clean up and store/get rid of all that stuff on the left side of the picture.
The fire pit with some seating is a nice idea or maybe a picnic table and chairs.
I agree with jendeis--- store/get rid of the toys. Maybe use the lattice to hide the kennel? A fire pit with low chairs around it would be awesome... either dug in the ground or raised. Good luck! HGTV.com always has good ideas too...
You definitely need to hide the kennel for those folks who aren't animal people. Lattice is a good idea or maybe plant some shrubs that could hide it.
Store the toys.
Create a path with larger stones that leads to a seating area off in the corner. Make it look like the pea gravel is there on purpose- like a grand landscape idea! :>) Get a cheap, small table( that won't overwhelm the space) with an umbrella. Plant small plants that won't spread too fast throughout the pea gravel.
Lowe's has lots of idea books for gardens and patios. Look through those. Good luck!
How about throwing in $500 credit for the buyer to landscape?
Can you hire a landscape person, like someone from a nursery? I have no suggestions seeing as I have a black thumb.
Get rid of EVERYTHING but the dog kennel (as a dog owner myself a kennel is NEEDED to store the dog) after everything is cleared out rake the gravel out nice and leave it that way... keep the poop picked up in the kennel and it should be fine... I think all the other stuff makes it look cluttered. Good Luck selling!
You should have a contest for this! Of course, so far, the winner would be a tie between Jendeis and Melanie. Awesome ideas...and this from somone who knows a bit about selling houses.
Hang in there...and for a while...it is a really slow market nationally.
Just declutter the toys--or park the cozy coupe etc. all lined up, rake the gravel, and fill in the grass spot with that Scott's hole filler (don't know what the name is--it's an all-in-one quick grow grass, fertilizer, coated with fluff so birds don't eat the seed.) Costco will have cool patio stuff/firepits out soon...they had a lot of items for under $200 last year plus you can take everything with you to the new house. Other commenters' lattice recommendation is on the money--for potential buyers who don't keep pets the lattice could help them see the area as a place to park the lawnmower, etc. instead of a doghouse.
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