Outdoor Entertaining & Play — Northern California

Project Summary

These homeowners in a California suburb were avid DIYers with lots of great ideas; they just needed a conceptual design to pull it all together. Home Outside showed them how to repurpose materials they had on site in a family-friendly layout that extends the living space of their small home while adding privacy and charm.

Check out the plan notes below to learn more about Home Outside’s design solutions!

Base Plan

Draft Design

Final Design

Landscape Design Plan Notes

Reuse existing brick paving to repave front walkway. Preserve existing arbor and fence.

Reuse existing brick to establish a new walkway along edge of driveway.

Connect front walkway and driveway-adjacent walkway with a stepping-stone path through planting beds. Punctuate front yard planting beds with tall ornamental grasses and architectural shrubs, for both privacy and beauty.

Repave tire tracks using pervious concrete pavers. In the center of the tire track paving, plant tough, drought-tolerant perennial plantings to establish a driveway garden.

Establish a lush garden in front yard with stepping-stone path. Use a combination of groundcover, perennial, grass, and shrub plantings. Strategically locate taller plantings to promote privacy between exposed front windows and adjacent sidewalk and street. Consider berry-producing plants to attract birds.

Against blank wall at front of house, install a small peastone sitting area with bench and arbor to match existing arbor at front walkway.

Install a small shed structure for convenient outdoor storage.

Continue stepping-stone path through lush gardens along south side of house. Path continues through a small grove of trees and emerges at a circular lawn area for play, exercise, and discovery.

A peastone patio features a fire pit surrounded by comfy outdoor furniture. Container plants and potted trees provide additional privacy and feelings of enclosure. A lattice topper on the fence could provide additional privacy from neighbors’ properties. Connect the circular play lawn to the peastone patio with stepping stones through planting bed.

Enlarge the existing deck into a multi-space, multi-level deck for gathering and dining. Option to consider a trellis or umbrella over the dining table for increased shade.

Extending the brick walkway paving adjacent to driveway beyond the house and between the enlarged deck and the garage efficiently connects disparate outdoor spaces into one continuous outdoor space. Use potted plants to punctuate level changes.

Home Outside Pinterest Board

“This is wonderful. I am very excited to go into our backyard this morning and start to block this out. When I was looking for small space ideas they always tend to skew as places for grown-ups only, so hopefully this can help others in our situation. ”