Our growing family just moved into our first real house. It's a little bit bigger, closer to where we work and play and it has a nice back yard, which we are thrilled about having. But all the new space means that we needed to buy a few things, to personalize our new house, and make it into our home.
We were pretty well covered with furnishings for the inside of our new house. But we had never had a back yard. The town house we lived in did not have an outdoor space, so we found ourselves needing just about everything for our yard, patio and deck.
First, our new deck and patio needed patio furniture. We started out thinking about teak furniture, but after exploring other options, we decided to invest in cast aluminum instead. A beautiful dining set with swivel chairs, and a couple of chaise lounges to anchor the corners was just the thing we needed.
Outdoor lighting was the next item on the list. We wanted to keep it warm and natural, so we went with solar post caps, candle lanterns and torches. The beautiful flicker of candlelight keeps things at just the right mood every evening, and using solar lighting helps us feel good about the environment and out electric bill.
The patio still had a few sparse corners, so we moved in some plant containers and added lots of flower boxes and pots along the deck rails and patio corners. It is really amazing how plants make things appear so alive and welcoming as you step outside. And the birds and butterflies our flowers attract makes it even better.
Next, we found a stunning wood arbor to serve as a transition from the patio going out into the yard. The curvature of the arch is an architectural element that I can really appreciate, and so will the flowering vines we planted beside it. Over the years, this will become a favorite center piece of our back yard.
Past the arbor and the patio, we built a raised vegetable garden, to provide us with tomatoes, basil, rosemary and all sorts of kitchen herbs. It's funny, but when we first talked about moving, this was the thing I most looked forward to being able to do. I love the raised bed, because it is low maintenance, and it produces a high yield in a small space.
Toward the back of the property, along the fence line, we placed a wonderful new vinyl storage shed. Since we now had to have a mower and other lawn implements, it made sense to invest in a place to keep them. We made sure to go with one that had plenty of room to grow into as our family grows.
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