On My Mind | Backyard Makeover

 ...and goodbye lackluster backyard!

When we bought this house five years ago (five years?!) one thing we loved was our very private and very lush backyard.  And by lush I mean extremely overgrown!  The property had sat idle for two years and with it was a backyard that looked more like the Louisiana bayou than a residence located in Atlanta city limits.  But we loved it and saw the vision for what it could become.  

The first two years were spent simply deciphering the weeds from the actual plants and foliage.  And once we could tell the difference between the two, we were pleasantly surprised to see an abundance of beautiful plants and shrubs.  Arborvitaes frame the perimeter, camellias border the back wall and azalea's divide the center of our split level backyard.  We added a railroad tie garden, planted hydrangeas and box-woods, stained the back deck and built a fire pit.  Then a little thing called time snuck in and what we have is 5 years of a backyard that we love the potential of, but haven't fully enjoyed.

In a recent reader survey a lot of you asked for my design process and inspiration.  I wish I could tell you that I have sure fire method that easily and quickly takes a project from idea to fruition.  Truth be told, most of the time the final outcome ends up quite differently from the initial idea.  And in today's 'makeover madness' world, it sometimes can appear that a project happens overnight.  And for some platforms, it does.  But in most situations there's a lot of work and planning that goes into the front end.  For myself it's about being inspired, solving a problem then figuring out how to execute it in a way that stays within budget & timeline with the end result being equal in both form and function.

So, today I'm taking some time to be inspired.  Going through vacation pics for inspiration and seeking my muse throughout the web.  For those of you wanting to follow along my design process, you can check out this Pinterest board I started for the project!
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In the meantime, this is what my backyard currently looks like, dead grass...overgrown bushes...but a whole lot of potential!

What projects are you dreaming about this summer?