By Conner Flynn
Whether you're considering selling your house or you want to improve the appearance of your current property, there are many ways to beautify your backyard. A well-maintained backyard can make you enjoy coming home to relax and make you proud when you have friends and family over.
Related: Backyard Tips: Keep Your Pool, Trampoline and Playset Safe This Summer
Here are nine tips to help you improve and beautify your backyard:
Add a Custom Shed
If you have random lawn equipment out on your yard, it can be unflattering. When you build a shed, you have a place to store your gardening and lawn equipment.
If you already have a small storage shed for this purpose, consider adding a customized shed to your yard for entertaining purposes. Also, an outdoor bar would make a fabulous addition to a yard, where friends and family could gather and be merry.
Create a Walkway
Most people put stone walkways in the front yard but neglect to add them to their backyard landscaping. Use stone or pavers to create a walkway that'll be inviting and give a clear path to your patio or pool. This will limit the amount of traffic going through your lawn, which could damage your grass. It will also make your yard more eye-appealing. Many people also include a walkway to their shed as well, so consider incorporating one into your plans as well!
Pergolas, Decks and Patios
Creating a definitive entertainment location can be a beautiful addition to your backyard. By adding a pergola, deck, or patio, you're making a place that immediately attracts your guests. You can add flowers and potted plants. A grill and outdoor lighting around your pergola or patio will make for the perfect finishing touches.
Outdoor Kitchen
An outdoor kitchen is great for locations that don't get a lot of rain and for people who like to entertain often—include a built-in grill, mini fridge, sink, etc. Anything that you would need to access inside your house, include it in your outdoor kitchen. This will eliminate much of the foot traffic through your house and give you a beautiful backyard.
Pools
Having either an above-ground or below-ground pool can be a great addition to your yard. Guests of all ages will enjoy being able to swim, and depending on how you stage it, a pool can be a real focal point to your backyard. Add a wrap around deck or have a separate porch area for the pool, and you can decide how you want your guests and pool to interact.
Paint Your Fence
If you have a fence in your yard that you don't necessarily like the looks of, you can paint it to make your backyard look better. Depending what look you want, you can either go with one standard color, or paint a mural on the fence to make it a talking point, rather than an eye sore.
Add Outdoor Seating
If you want your guests to feel comfortable and at home, add cozy outdoor seating to your backyard. Use wooden pallets, long benches and Adirondack chairs to give people an option of where they want to sit. Also, add a wrap around tree bench or a daybed and get creative with fabrics and color schemes.
Give the Kids a Place to Play
A tree house or playset can really add a cool note to your backyard. Get creative with walkways and ladders, add lighting and tree swings. The options are unlimited.
Add Eye-Popping Landscaping
Beautiful landscaping can be a wonderful addition to your backyard. Add hydrangeas, butterfly gardens and flower borders. You can change the entire look of your yard just by adding some pretty plants.
There are so many ways that you can beautify your backyard. With these tips you can have a stunning place for guests to visit and a relaxing spot to unwind at night.
Conner Flynn is the outreach manager for Gadget Review. He's also an SEO consultant, as well as longtime editor and freelancer for many high-tier publications online: Technabob.com, Geeky-Gadgets, Geekazine, and many more over 15+ years. If you're in the market for a shed-building guide, Flynn recommends 3D Shed Plans.