Landscaping & Outdoor Living

It's been hard to imagine outdoor living here in Chicago with the temps being so low but it looks like that might be changing this weekend. Thank goodness!

Even with the crumby weather, my husband and I have been busy preparing the outside of our house for big landscaping changes.

Here's a look at our house when we bought it and some of the changes we have in mind. The 2 long front bushes will be removed to make way for several different shrubs, trees and perennials. The large red oval on the far left shows where we would like to plant a smaller, ornamental tree such as a magnolia or Japanese maple. The three white ovals are where we will plant hydrangeas. The right side of the house will have tiered rows or evergreen bushes, spirea shrubs and some kind of perennials.

Here is the recent front of our house with the bushes removed and a nice clean slate :)

I plan to plant hostas on the side of the house, lining the driveway.

These windows lead to our basement so it will be nice to look out and see some greenery.

And this is the view of our backyard. We will plant smaller arborvitae trees along the fence leading to the garage to give a little privacy to the yard.

I am so excited to discover the peony plants on the side of the garage! My favorite flower!

A landscaper is coming by next week to remove a lot of brush and weeds and clean up the backyard a bit.

And this muddy mess is where we had the original concrete patio removed to make way for a larger paver patio. My husband has begun digging up the grass to make a more rounded-shaped patio that will also house a fire pit.

I cannot wait for it all to be finished so I can start furnishing the patio to make it cozy. We already have a black iron patio furniture set but I think I want to add a bench settee. Like this...

or this...

And a pretty cushion like this...

add some nice candle lighting will these lanterns...

and these oil lamps...

We already have many birds in the backyard so I would love to give them a cute bird house and feeder and a bird bath.

(all outdoor furniture and accessories found at Pier 1)

I am loving the variety of planters offered at Home Depot.

Stay tuned for the progress photos and the final reveal!