Whether you have a small or big backyard, a makeover doesn’t have to be costly or time-consuming. With just a few simple changes, you can turn your backyard into a place where you’d want to spend time relaxing in the sun, reading, gardening, or hanging out with friends and family.
Looking for ideas? We’ve put together 20 cheap and easy ways to make your backyard a standout part of your home, and the place to be in summer or spring.
1. Build a patio or deck
Build a simple patio or elevated deck for outdoor entertaining. Flooring options include concrete, pavers (stone, bricks, tile), and wood or composite decking.
2. Add furniture
Add outdoor furniture to your patio or deck and make it look like a living room with a coffee table, sofa, pillows, a blanket, rug, and TV.
3. Heat it up!
Heat up those cold nights with a built-in or portable fire pit. If you don’t want to play with fire, consider using an electric or propane outdoor heater.
4. Include a kitchen/bar
Don’t forget to include an outdoor kitchen/bar for hosting parties or BBQ nights, complete with a grill, oven, stove, benchtop, sink, mini fridge, and bar counter lined with chairs.
5. Set up a dining area
Set up an area for dining so you can enjoy eating outside with your family and friends. A simple dining table and chairs will do the trick!
6. Light it up!
Outdoor lights will help you see in the dark and show off your garden at night. Lanterns, string lights, accent lights, tealights, and pendant lights create a lovely ambience.
7. Create shade
Protect yourself from the sun and rain by creating shade in your outdoor space. Use a large umbrella, gazebo, pergola, awning, leafy trees, or vines growing over arbours.
8. Install a water feature
The sight and sound of water has a calming effect, so install a garden pond, koi pond, small fountain or spring, or a bird bath in your backyard.
9. Enjoy a soak!
Cool off in hot weather and stay warm on cold nights by soaking in a built-in or inflatable swimming pool or in a hot tub or spa.
10. Hang a swing or hammock
You can also relax in your backyard by hanging a hammock between two trees or posts, or hanging a swing from a sturdy branch or overhead roof.
11. Provide a walkway
Provide a walkway (concrete, paved, wooden) from the patio or deck to the garden. It makes it easier to get around and protects your lawn and garden from foot traffic.
12. Offer privacy
Offer privacy by dividing and secluding areas with screens, walls, fences, arbours, or overhead roofs. Or plant tall shrubs, thick bushes and hedges, and put a privacy screen on your deck.
13. Keep your tools in a shed
Keep your tools inside a small shed to make your backyard look neat and tidy. These include gardening, landscaping, and recreational equipment.
14. Make your own backyard games
Play and have fun with DIY super-sized backyard games, including lawn dominoes, lawn dice, the cornhole game or Jenga game, a chess board, and a tic-tac-toe board.
15. Attract birds and butterflies
You can attract birdsby adding a nest box, bird feeder, and bird bath to your yard. Attract butterflies with a butterfly puddler feeder and a butterfly house.
16. Opt for container gardening
Container gardens are low-maintenance and cheaperthan in-ground gardens. Put plants and flowers in pots or planters and set them on your patio or deck, along the walkway, or around seating areas.
17. Let your plants climb a trellis
Bring vertical interest to your outdoor space by letting plants like vines, ivy, and roses climb a trellis. You can buy a pre-made trellis or make one yourself.
18. Place statues and sculptures in your yard
Add visual interest to your lawn and garden with statues and sculptures of animals (birds, frogs, snails), mythical beings (fairies, gnomes, cherubs), and colourful mushrooms.
19. Display a collection
Displaying a collection of your plants in small containers on a wall can be a great focal point for your backyard. Use a plain outdoor wall shelf to display low-cost succulents and cactus plants.
20. Grow a fruit and veggie garden
If you have a green thumb or want to save money on groceries, grow your own fruits and veggies.
Plant them in raised garden beds or containers for easy maintenance.
Enjoy your backyard from inside your home too!
What’s more, you can enjoy your backyard from within your home as well with almost invisible fly screens. You can choose from a range of materials, styles, colours, and sizes to match your existing doors and windows.
Besides keeping insects and debris out, fly screens allow you to open your windows and doors fully so you can increase natural light in your home and open up your indoor spaces, inviting the outside in. Fly screens also provide additional shading and help you to control glare. This means you can enjoy an unobstructed picturesque view of your backyard from any part of your home.
If your living room has direct access to the outdoors, consider adding retractable or pleated fly screens to your windows and bifold or sliding door so you can open them and create an indoor-outdoor living area.
Ready to give your backyard a makeover?
There are plenty of ways to turn your backyard into the ultimate outdoor retreat without breaking a sweat or the bank! But before you start on your backyard makeover, take the time to create a really detailed plan to avoid mistakes or mishaps along the way and keep you on track.
When it comes to enjoying your backyard from inside your home, Artilux is Australia’s leading supplier of retractable and pleated fly screens. To find out more about our fly screens, contact us today.
