Elevating your outdoor space and giving your yard that wow factor can be tricky. After all, not only do you want and need your yard to look amazing, but it also needs to be practical and synonymous with you and your lifestyle. Not all wow features are suitable for all homes, and it takes a lot of thought and consideration to create a truly unique outdoor area that blends style and functionality. But it’s not impossible, and this post is going to look at some top tips and ideas for creating wow for a range of budgets, from uber-expensive to cost-efficient and everything in between.
One Key Feature
The beauty of this tip lies in its simplicity and adaptability. Regardless of the size of your yard, a single key feature can make a more significant impact than a multitude of features. The key is to choose something that commands attention, serving as the focal point that says, ‘Look at me,’ leaving no room for distraction.
For some, this might be a split-level pool surrounded by stylish features and accessories. For others, it can be a perfectly manicured lawn that is breathtaking to look at. For others, it can be an explosion of vibrant plant life, creating a zen of nature.
The key isn’t what the feature is; it’s that you only have one, and that does everything you need it to.
Clean and Tidy
When it comes to creating a ‘wow’ factor, sometimes less is more. If you’re considering a complete overhaul of your outdoor space, focusing on keeping it clean and tidy can be just as impactful as any other changes you might have in mind, especially for smaller spaces.
No one has ever looked out onto a messy garden and thought, “Yeah, that’s what I want for my home.”
But a clean and well-kept garden can instantly make people smile and make you feel better. You might need to invest in some cleaning equipment and tools, such as brushes, power washers, an edger for your lawn, weed control equipment, etc., but investing in keeping it looking clean and sharp can give you an impactful minimalist wow that doesn’t really need much else.
The Rule of Three
Have you ever heard of the ‘Rule of Three’ in landscaping? If not, it’s time to pay attention. This rule applies to the materials you use in your landscape design, particularly the hard surfaces like wood for decking, gravel for lawns, and tiles for driveways. The key is to limit yourself to three different materials, excluding plants, to maintain a cohesive and impactful design.
Let’s say you have a brick wall in your garden and wooden decking, and they complement each other perfectly. Then, you add a low stone wall and a tiled water fountain. Before, that impactful look of wood and brick was undiluted, and now you suddenly have a wash of different things, reducing their impact. So before you go crazy and mix all the materials, stop, pick three, and incorporate them into your design to complement, not detract from, each other.
Plants Are a Finisher, Not A Starter
When it comes to adding wow to your garden, think of the plants as the final jigsaw piece or the dessert after an amazing meal. You need to create the perfect landscaping design prior to adding the plants, as they are your decor if you wish, not the foundations of a good yard design.
Take the plants out of the equation and start with the design and layout of the garden, much like baking a cake. You need to mix the cake ingredients first and then decorate it.
Light It Up
Depending on your budget and the ambiance you want to go for, the lighting itself can be the wow factor or a way to help you boost the look or feel of the changes you have made.
Creative lighting around your garden will really elevate the look and feel after dark while hanging the right type of lighting around the space you have designed can pull the whole thing together.
However, it is important to remember that lighting is a key consideration in your design. Whether you’re looking at budget options and want to hang string lights or inground lights, for example, or you’re adding custom lighting to a pool or outdoor dining area and structures, e.g., pergolas, you need lighting because after dark, that is what will give it the wow factor.
Sections
Well-defined spaces within your yard can become a design feature themselves and help you create the perfect visual representation of your life. For instance, you can create separate areas for dining, kids’ play, and gardening, each with its own unique features and design elements.
You can create levels in an otherwise flat yard and have different levels for different activities, such as dining, kids’ play areas, plants, or vegetable gardens. For example, you can raise the ground to accommodate decking or a pool or add steps to a slope to make it more user-friendly. These defined sections in different heights can add wow and make an otherwise boring surface infinitely more interesting.
Other ideas for the section include adding pathways to break up large expanses of grass and using hard landscape materials to create eating and cooking areas, for example, or chill-out zones. You can have a fun zone with a playground or an inground pool, or you can have sections for plant life or natural lawns you leave out of their own thing. However, a garden that has well-defined spaces can instantly have the wow factor regardless of who segments it.
Here are 6 tips and tricks to turn your otherwise boring and standard backyard into a space that exude life, style, and wow factor. Remember, less is more. Don’t overcomplicate it. Pay attention to how you need or want to use the space, and before you know it, you’ll have the yard everyone wants to come hang out in, even if you don’t want them there!
