Friday, March 22, 2013

outdoor fantasies/the backyard plan

Our living room is a teeny thing so in addition to dreaming about blowing out the room and making it larger I'm turning my attention on the backyard because well first of all, we're hosting a bridal shower in April in it and secondly because ideally, since we live in California and enjoy beautiful weather year round, maybe we could do a lot more living outside if we make the backyard a lot more appealing to hang out in. And this image and pretty much the whole article from Sunset Magazine has encapsulated the whole vibe I'd like to go with. I mean come on with the two dogs and everything.
It was from Sunset Magazine and the whole backyard was pretty spectacular but I was just really taken by the image with the firepit because it looks like such a fun place to be and I have such fond memories of sitting around Ali's Aunt Linda's house where they had a firepit and we'd hang and chit chat. And yes, I'm aware that we had a fire pit in the condo but we never used that thing, it was scary. I think the key is a nice comfy seating area. Which is also why I love the idea of chaise lounges in the backyard too and a space for outdoor entertaining.
I keep coming back to images of pergolas, especially these pretty plain ones because they're so flexible style wise. You can make it very casual or very formal with just a few accessories.
Here's a pergola in the background and they did those wood trellis things that could be pretty happening, especially to hide the ugly alley behind it.

Outdoor dining is essential. And wood decking I mean, fuggedabout it.
This wall of plants is a great idea too... 
 Another terrific fire pit/sectional scenario.
A napping nook.
And this I saw on Jenny's blog and it re-cemented my idea that if we built a deck on the side of the house, it would be great to have an back door that would open up to it from the master. I am trying to explain to Matt it would be a good idea but I hadn't found an image that explained it properly and then:
I mean SHUT IT. I am madly in love with all of it but especially the steps. They're like unfinished rustic looking wood blocks but darn they're terrific. Oh and the dog. And then I thought man, how would all of this fit together and then I didn't have much to do at work so I did this:
Can't you just picture it all? Spend my weekdays having breakfast on the chaise lounge in the mornings, on weekends we have friends over for BBQs and we grill some veggie burgers, enjoy our lunch, mix some cocktails and hang by the fire quoting Jurassic Park 'til the sun goes down.

Ah, it's these thoughts that will motivate me to work on the backyard this weekend.

Hope you all have a nice two days of backyard livin'.

1 comment:

Ali said...

If you want to get really fancy, a la Fred and Linda, you can wire the outdoors for sound and tv, and then you can watch Jurassic Park OUTSIDE. We used to do that at Fred's—he would put Jaws on while we went swimming.