Front Yard Inspiration

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I mentioned in the July 2016 recap that we met with a landscape designer to start planning for the front yard makeover. One of the items high on the list to add a front walkway. Our house sits up on a hill, and the driveway is on the side of the house, which is where you currently enter. I don’t love that the first thing guests see our garage and garbage cans. And for whatever reason, this leads to people being confused and thinking we don’t have a front door.

Front Yard

Since the steps will be on a slope, rather than poured concrete, I like the idea of doing something really natural and gradual. There will be some small retaining walls, and a few landings. The landscaper also recommended we not remove the tree stumps from the pines we took out last summer. Instead, we’ll weave the steps through the stumps and hide them with some landscaping. Works for me!

I started looking online for some front yard inspiration and steps on a hill. Here are a few I found:

(note: I’m not tech savvy enough to figure out how to turn off the pin button for a specific post, but I encourage you to visit the links below and pin from the direct source vs. here. Thanks!)

Contemporary Stone Steps (via Houzz)

Our house is a modern contemporary ranch, so going with something more sleek will work with the architecture. I also like the combination of gravel and stone pavers (which is more wallet friendly too!) . The landings for ours are likely to be bigger; the general idea is to do 3 steps and then a landing, similar to the below.

Front Yard Inspiration: Photo by Studio 342 Landscape Architecture – Search contemporary landscape pictures

Timber Steps (via Houzz)

The existing retaining walls are timber, so it might make sense to do that as well for the steps. It doesn’t last as long, but is very natural. Most of the house on our street have timber steps or retaining walls so it works with the look of the neighborhood as well.

Front Yard Inspiration: Photo by BRADANINI & ASSOCIATES – More Mediterranean home design photos

French Garden Stone (via Trouvais)

These are worn, rustic steps that are similar to the stone facade on our fireplace. I like the continuity of using stone outside similar to what you see when you first walk in the house. Of course, our garden will never be as lovely as a French garden, but these will continue to look better with age.

Front Yard Inspiration: French garden via Trouvais.com

Pavers and Stone Retaining Wall (via Houzz)

I like the mix of the traditional stone with the pavers, mixing contemporary and traditional really well. Not as rustic as the French garden, but not quite as modern as the first example either. The pavers may be easier to navigate too since they are a more even surface.

2013 International Landscape Design Award Winners

Front Yard Inspiration: Photo by Association of Professional Landscape Designers – Discover traditional landscape design inspiration

I feel like I say this with every renovation we take on, but I expect this to be a huge transformation. Right now, the only part of our yard we use is technically the smallest part – the backyard (which is very narrow). The thought of making the space we have more functional is super exciting!

Shared on Thoughts of Home on Thursday

Comments

Stacey Keeling says

August 7, 2016 at 10:40 pm

Oooh, you’ve got your work ahead of you but this is our favorite kind of work. Can’t wait to see how this all goes.

Thanks so much for joining Thoughts of Home on Thursday. 🙂
- LovelandLodge says
  
  August 10, 2016 at 9:47 am
  
  Thanks, Stacey! It will be quite the project, but I really can’t wait to see how it comes together 🙂

Front Yard Inspiration