Budget Yard Makeover

We had lived in our house for a year and a half, and we hadnt done much to the outside.  I was busy making the inside feel like home, and then I got pregnant, so I was too tired and it was too hot outside for me to do anything. We decided we'd like to give the yard a little spruce up this year, but with a no more than a $500 budget.

Just to let you know our home was originally painted cream with blue trim, and its sandwiched in between 2 other homes that are white.  I really wanted to paint it white with navy shutters and a red door, but it didnt make sense because then there would be 3 white houses in a row. I wanted to go nuetral so I decided on Annoymous Behr grey and Stealth Behr black for the trim.  I didnt see the grey until it went up, and I feel its too dark.  This is an expensive mistake.  Last summer we got white shutters to add in some more white to lighten it up.

Before

This is the view from the street. Sadly we painted the house before we moved in, but this blue wall remained. And bothered me....a lot. What bothered me the most though was that huge bush on the front lawn that blocked our entire home, even in the winter without any foliage, this bush blocked our whole house.

After

And now you can actually see our home!

Before

I had already planted all my flowers, but just pretend they are not there. = )

After

Before

Why didnt I just paint this wall? And I am so embarassed. but this deck trellis lay down for a year and a half.  I kept asking my husband to do it.  Everytime I drove up my driveway I would be like " that damn wall and damn trellis!

This wall is not gorgeous, its not very pretty at all.  If we were planning on staying for 10 years, we'd fix it, change it, and make it pretty.  But we are moving and we wanted it to look prettier at least.  I wish we had done this before we moved in.

Before deck

I planned on painting these wicker chairs, but then I just got lazy

After deck

Before side deck

This ugly gate was a dog gate, I sprayed it last year and the dogs could be on the deck.  It was a nice idea but it started to really fall apart and get ugly looking.

After side deck

Before backdoor

After backdoor

I already had the milk jug and the planter. The flowers were $3.33 and the star was $3.99 from Christmas Tree Shop

Before Tree

After Tree

This I only added 2 chairs, but it actually makes the backyard a lot more friendly.

Before Mailbox

After Mailbox

We painted it white, and replaced the old plastic mailbox with a new bigger black metal one.  We also put a really nice decal on both sides in bright white. It just says our address in script writting.

Breakdown of costs

$66.82 Home Depot

2 long window planters & 2 hooks

New black mailbox

New door hardware

$25 Christmas Tree Shops

3 blue metal stars

2 glass candle holders

shells for decor

$12.50 Etsy

Mailbox decal

I'm not showing this because I'm nervous of the crazies!

$82 Lowes

Flowers & soil

(man flowers cost a lot!!)

$103.76 Home Depot

Paint thinner

6 bags of mulch

Grey paint for the wall

(grey paint is Behr pewter mug)

Knob for garden hose

3 rollers

1 paint pole

82.07 Lowes

4 white adirondack chairs

2 paint trays

TOTAL 372.15

So we came in $127.85 under our $500 budget. Our yard isn't something you'd see on MTV cribs, but its nice to see with a little bit of money and a lot of sweat equity anyone can really make their outside area prettier.

Visit me tomorrow for my fun, beautiful and functional mudroom makeover!