Inexpensive small backyard design ideas that will make your yard feel extra cozy this summer!
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Summer is right around the corner and everyone’s looking to spruce up their backyard just in time for the next neighbourhood BBQ.
This time of year our grass looks like a mess to allow for the bees to wake up from their winter slumber. Pro tip: let your grass grow out and your dandelions flower until late May to give the bees their first kick of nourishment in the spring.
Our yard is nothing extraordinary, but we like to think it’s cute AF in the summertime. We have 10 small raised beds, an 11’ x 11’ deck and a whole lot of lights! If you’re looking for some extra inspiration, check out our Urban Garden board on Pinterest!
As people who love hosting, having a warm and inviting space is a must, and we’ve put together 5 easy ways to give your backyard a little dose of cozy.
5 Amazing Ideas For A Small Backyard
01 | Lighting
As I mentioned before, our backyard has a bunch of lights. They’re along the deck, in the pergola, in the gazebo, through the beds and we’re always looking for more of them.
The problem with lighting is that it can sometimes be expensive. Thankfully, we’re cheap, so I’m here to give you some ideas on how to get some really cute lights without spending an arm and a leg!
No matter what it is, we always shop with deals or coupons. Our bistro lights are from Michaels and you bet your ass we each used a coupon and went back a couple times. Those 30% or 40% off regular priced item coupons are a god sent.
We recently bought some solar string lights from Home Depot for $19.88 to string through the pergola. I talk about other ways we spruce up our pergola later in this post, so stay tuned.
Alternatively, try to shop seasonally! Think of backyard items like holiday decorations or chocolate. Near the end of the season, it’s always on sale. There’s no better time than August to shop for all your outdoor items when things are anywhere between 60% to even 80% off.
02 | Seating
Seating is a big one in our house. We love having people over and enjoying our mini oasis with them while having a BBQ, a charcuterie (which you can make yourself by following my 10 easy step process here), a cup of coffee or just to hang out, really.
If you live somewhere that has an IKEA, go there. You can always find furniture sets for super cheap and they have so many different choices. If not, don’t worry, we have options.
If you aren’t already familiar with Kijiji, it’s essentially an online marketplace where people can list items they’re selling. It’s similar to Facebook Marketplace or even Ebay. It’s basically a digital garage sale.
Since we’re renting, we haven’t really wanted to put a TON of money into our yard furniture. We bought our patio table and chairs 5 years ago on Kijiji for $80 and we’re only just now looking to replace them (even then we’ll probably wait). Keep in mind, Kijiji is a Canadian site, so you’ll have to find an equivalent in your home country
This year we were looking to replace our old gazebo and if you live in Canada you’ve likely heard of PC Points. It’s a points program run by President’s Choice that you can join for free.
We’ve been collecting points for the better part of 7 years now and we’ve accumulated about $750 worth. We’ve used them to buy video games, groceries and this year, we used $250 worth for a new gazebo. Now, I’m not saying you have to plan 7 years to buy a gazebo, but it is an option!
Another alternative to seating is milk creates! We had planned on making a seating installation at work so we set out to find some. Believe it or not, lots of people are willing to give them up. We found some in public recycling bins and even called a few local businesses who were more than happy to give the away!
Do you have a small bedroom looking for a makeover? Maybe you’re looking for ways to add some cozy to your life? Check out my 10 Simple Tricks To Make Your Home Feel Extra Cozy - WITHOUT Breaking The Bank!
03 | Greenery
Whether it’s through potted plants, hanging plants, vining plants, vegetable garden beds, or trees, every yard should have SOME kind of greenery. Even fake grass or plants on an apartment balcony do the trick to bring some life into your space.
I would consider us to have a medium-sized yard. It’s not massive like a country lot, but it is larger than the average inner-city lot. We’re fortunate enough to live in an older neighbourhood where the trees are more mature, providing both greenery and privacy.
Another idea to incorporate greenery is to get into vegetable gardening. You don’t need a ton of space depending on what you’re growing. You can plant a few tomatoes (one per 12” pot) or try climbing beans along your fence!
Shop your local nurseries for some seeds and some plants. If you live in the Ottawa area, I would highly recommend Ritchies Feed & Seed or Peter Knippel Garden Centre.
04 | Making Use of Empty Space
I’m going to briefly elaborate on my point from above. We know that vegetable beds can bring greenery to your yard, but it can also be a really good solution to filling an empty or otherwise unusable space.
We live on a busy street and it can sometimes get really noisy. We had a small area between the dahlia bed and the bean bed that we didn’t know what to do with. So what did we do? We planted corn! And it did REALLY well. Almost too well. 12’ tall well! Not only did we get some corn cobs, but it created an amazing privacy feature between the yard and the driveway.
Another great idea is to fill small areas with some patio stones and create a quiet seating area or a pathway leading to the deck or the back door. The walkway leading up to our deck was made using old concrete stones that we found while digging around the yard. We broke them up into pieces, planted some grass seed and called it a day.
People are always selling or even giving away old patio stones on Kijiji so feel free to browse around and see what’s available in your area!
05 | Backyard Pergola
Ah yes, the pergola. There was something missing around that stone pathway of ours. So I ran over to Home Depot, bought some 2” x 2”s and 2” x 1”s and built a walk-through pergola. It cost me about $60 worth of materials at the time.
You could leave your pergola as is or you could build a bed in front of it like we did. Ours is 1’ x 6’ and it’s perfect for about a dozen pole bean plants. You can otherwise place your pergola somewhere that would make it so that there’s dirt on either side and plant whatever you want. If you weren’t looking to plant anything next to it, you could put down some river rock or mulch, stick a few solar lights in there and voila – your new pergola.
Other things you could do to spruce up your space is add some accessories and textiles like an outdoor rug, cushions, lanterns, and more. There really is a whole world out there of things you could do and I hope this gave you some inspiration!
xo
Download Our 2022 Guidebook!
Don’t forget to download our 2022 Guidebook to help you plan your next backyard project. It’ll help guide you through the process while giving you tips on how to stay within your budget.
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