Raised Garden Bed Courtyard: Our Backyard Plans (Phase 1)
Look. We know. We said very early on that we would be saving the backyard for later on in the renovation. When you buy a home in need of TLC (and every other letter in the alphabet), putting time and energy into something as unnecessary as a cozy backyard courtyard is pretty much really stupid!!!
But here’s the thing. We love spending time outside and we’re about to enter the ultimate time of year in New Orleans: sweet, sweet October. The release from the oppressive heat. Gumbo weather. The end of the rainy season. Historically the less active part of hurricane season (knock on wood). October is the best time of year here hands down.
Add to that the fact that the world is falling apart and we can’t really do much away from home, having a nice outdoor respite from the renovation chaos that is happening inside our home felt very necessary. And what’s even better, it’s a project we can tackle entirely ourselves… staining wood, constructing beds, painting arbors, hauling soil and gravel, stringing up the lights—so unlike the bedroom suite and parts of the living room & office redesign, there’s no waiting on permits or professionals to do their thing. That’s why after two months of living in this home, we decided to dedicate these next two weeks to getting phase 1 of the backyard put together: a raised garden bed courtyard.
What is a raised garden bed courtyard? Well, it’s a courtyard, walled off by raised garden beds. Pluss a table in the center, arbors to add interest and give any future vining plants a place to thrive, and washed gravel to give a bit of a country feel. We actually have already started and completed a whole lot of this work, but I’ll save any big reveals for later in the month once it’s further along!
Everyone wants something different out of their back yard. Maybe that’s a big plot of grass, or a large deck, or an in-ground pool. For us, it was important the backyard felt almost like an extension of the inside of our home. We want it to be great for entertaining and having parties (obviously not until we enter a post-Covid world), as well as a quaint place for us to have dinner or drinks together.
We’ll have more to come soon on the kinds of wood we chose and how we went about constructing these things, but here’s a small photo dump from the last few days :)
Thanks for stopping by the blog boo!
xoxo Beau & Matt