Hey guys!
I'm so..so...happy to be posting about this tonight because I've been wanting to beautify our front yard for awhile! A lot of you know that we rent but like I have said a million and one times... just because you rent or won't be in a location for a long time doesn't mean that it can't be pretty! I've been urging my husband for awhile to let's add some curb appeal to our rental. We live in a development where all the houses practically look identical other than a few minor different shades of beige on the exteriors and an extra window here or there... boring! But they are still pretty for rentals anyways!
I found myself looking on Pinterest and finding inspiring photos like below that just made me want to get to work and create a space that we could be proud of. Plus, I want yard of the month already.
I just adore the cottage below with all of the beautifully bloomed hydrangeas and of course the old chair sitting on the front porch. It probably is the tin roof and the cute puppy as well ;-)
SO! We finally got to work this past weekend...and are still not finished completely but we are at a great stopping point and I thought that I would show you some of our progress! To top it off, we did ALL of this for under $75! Score! So first let me try to find some before's for you to get a better idea of what we were working with....
These photos were taken on Instagram or on my cell phone... below is for fall with the red mulch and an old rocker that I got off Craigslist. I wish we had a huge porch for multiple rockers but we don't:)
And here's Christmas. If you remember, we didn't decorate very much because we went out of town for Christmas this year... but it was still pretty simple but pretty.
And lastly, here is a MAJOR before. The first picture I took of the house when we were moving in and just got our keys... wow... it needed some love.
Above and below you will see a colorful new door mat that I found on clearance at good ole' Target for just $9.00. I usually like to make my own but who can pass up this colorful beauty and for under $10, you just can't beat it. Found on either side of our colorful door mat are two grey barrels that belonged to my mama. I asked politely stole for them and loved the look rather than just normal old planters. Rememeber also, you can go to the Dollar Tree or Dollar General and get some for only a few dollars. You could also up cycle the boring ones you get when you buy flowers by spray painting them a pretty iron or gold color depending on your decor :) For contrast, I added hot pink flowers over flowing in the barrels. I compared costs against buying a hanging basket vs. a lot of flowers I would have to plant together in the barrels. I went with the hanging baskets and just cut off the hanging part. Best part about that was that there were around $7 each. YES.
Here is a wider few of our front area. Don't mind my boring colored monogram. It is now a nice lime green which is a perfect color for contrast and you can see it from the road now ;-) We went and bought brown mulch to line front areas. I've only seen one other house in our development with brown mulch, the rest have red so I'm glad to be different and I just think it's a beautiful contrast against the home. The two trees in front are gorgeous palm trees as well. And the large bushes directly below... they had more than a few wasps nests...and since we all know how much I love my puppies... we took them out just in case. We tried and tried to just keep them trimmed but they were just ugly and overgrown from the start... so now they are gone too! More pictures to follow this post of our progress!
I added new flowers to the front and did a curved detail on the mulch instead of keeping it straight just to add some much needed interest to the front. I need to edge to better define the curve....yikes.
Here's a better view of the flowers. I hope I don't kill them. And like I said, yes, I need to edge :P
And here's another view.
I picked up the hydrangeas out of the clearance section at Lowe's and I'm hoping that I can keep them alive. They are my favorite flowers....
This little bistro set I got off the local yard sale page here for just $50 brand new... what a steal for a cute little set. And the cute lime green pillows are outdoor pillow from Target for just $12 each!
So all together,
Bistro Table: $50.00
Barrel Flowers: $7 each X2 equals $14.00
Target Outdoor Pillows: $12 each X2 equals $24.00
Brown Mulch: $3/bag X15 bags equals $45.00
Hydrangeas Clearance X2 equals $12.00
but wait... that equals $133.00. I had a chandelier to take back to Lowe's for $99 and used that as a credit for all of my flowers, mulch, etc. which put me down to a total of only....
$74.00 total.
By simply adding something causal like chairs or a bistro set like this one, some pretty flowers, updated mulch... spraying off your garage door, sweeping your sidewalks, etc... you can total transform your curb appeal! Remember to always keep it clean and tidy. You don't have to have a garden of flowers but a nicely kept home will always look better than a messy one.
And I'm loving it! What do you think? I need something for the outer wall above the table to the right there. I might just build something to put up there but it's definitely empty space. I wish they would have just put a pretty window there... but this is base housing and they don't care what I think :)
Toodles!
XOXO,
Ally
If you loved this post and want to "pin" a photo to your Pinterest account, you can do so below! I would really appreciate it if y'all pinned my images :)
Goodnight!
XOXO,
Ally
