Today I’m joining eight other bloggers and sharing my outdoor space with you. In the past few months, I’ve felt very fortunate to have it as it has become an extension of the house during the pandemic with both adult boys home and my husband working here also!
In the evenings, it’s been great to get outside after being in and working all day. We really use the extra space to for all of us to spread out right now. With four adults in one house, we need it. I’ve tried to create a few cozy spots so there is always a place to hang out and work, do a call, or just chill out here.
If you have visited here before, you know we just remodeled our 1965 home after being here for ten years. When we remodeled, I wanted to extend the living space with fold away doors to the back and French doors and a patio in front. These things have made the house more spacious though we didn’t really add any square feet. Our yard is tight with a pool that wraps around the yard and a funky lap lane… And a LOT of brick. Replacing it would be a small fortune so we’ve chosen to love it and its old school look. I like it with the new white stucco of the house even more now.
The yard is divided with an Ipe deck in the center that feels like it floats above the pool. It’s tight though and our main door to the yard was previously through the dining room, not ideal. We changed how the house flowed so we could see the pool and instead come out to the deck from the living room via a folding door. We now see the yard in a way that makes it seem much more expansive and makes the house feel larger too.
The yard once was surrounded by a wall of green – A new owner on the left took the hedge down and the fence needed replacing in the upper yard, so it all was taken out right before the remodel two years ago along with all the mature plants. We started fresh almost, so I am waiting for both fences to be someday again be covered by vines, creeping fig and citrus, but it’s slow going and looks so bare to me right now.
The set above is the Pacifica Serena & Lily couch and chairs in driftwood color. We always knew we wanted a sofa out here and we are very happy with this with the two chairs. It’s an easy brush off Sunbrella fabric and the woven white driftwood color surprisingly doesn’t show dirt. I do like to cover it when we are getting a lot of wind and fall leaves though.
Our round table is from my neighbor Graces’s estate sale. It’s an indoor marble table and so I cover it during rainy days, but it has been perfect out here with this set! We can do a whole lot of appetizers on this baby.
I recently changed all the cushions to black and white to keep things consistent with the house. The two with graphic leave motif pillows are from my January Hawaii trip to the Big Island and one of my favorite shops, SoHa Living.
Below is my rickety teak table I’ve had way too long. It is due to be replaced, but I found these white metal chairs last year and they kind of pulled the yard together, so we are making it work. I will sometimes use a tablecloth or runner to dress it up a bit when we dine out here.
Once we moved in, we removed all the old terra-cotta and colored pots and added these resin/ceramic ones with boxwood. Here in a photo from my Instagram stories..
I have this old bar stand I turned into my herb garden/potting table. I’m hoping to move this to the side yard when I get the French teak console table of my dreams from RH someday…
Our vegetable garden that I wrote about in this post is going great! My oldest son Jackson does most of the work on it with my dad. They are garden nerds. I’m so excited we just got our first heirloom tomato! This year we have tomatoes, squash, cucumbers, peppers and cantaloupe. We are so fortunate that my dad starts all the tomatoes himself by seed, and they are really good.
Our front is another outdoor space we use so much now that we remodeled and added a patio. I always wanted an area that we could hang out in front, chat with neighbors and enjoy the sunset view. This is another thing that has made our home feel so much bigger. The wall serves as extra seating and I still may order some bigger chairs, but for now it’s enough to eat lunch out here and hang with the cat during the winter months. With the western exposure, the front patio is a bit warm to use during the summer except at sunset and in evenings, but it’s super in the winter as it stays protected and warm. We love having coffee out here in winter and wine at night with friends in summer. If we open the French doors, the patio serves as a great spot for guests to grab some air and more seating when entertaining inside. (Will that will ever happen again?!!)
Last winter having my coffee with the cat..
Now we’ve placed pillows on the wall like a Greek hotel LOL.
We did native plants and decomposed granite in this front landscape. I used French Provencal gardens as my inspiration. I especially love the two non-fruiting olive trees and the agaves. Right now it’s busy with all the lavenders blooming we have butterflies, bees and birds all day. It’s very low maintenance, organic and pesticide free. All I have to do is occasionally weed so we don’t miss our old grass at all. It’s becoming more and more filled in as the bushes spread out and take up space.
I hope this wasn’t too rambling, but I did want to share how we made our smallish home feel a lot bigger by creating indoor/outdoor spots.
Here’s a few links to get the same look if you are interested:
- I love these Quinn Stoneware pots at Pottery Barn. Right now they are living up to their name with a great assortment of modern and simple pots for inside and outside.
- This black outdoor pillow from Target is my style. I think it’s hard to find outdoor pillows in black and white so I grab them when I find them.
- The Target collab with Joanna Gaines is so good now in terms of quality and design! This pretty stripe throw is a great price at $29 and I don’t mind it being outside at that price. I like to have a big basket of throws for cool evenings. ( The table runner on my outdoor teak table is oversized and also well made thick linen from them!)
- I don’t do melamine and instead prefer to use my everyday when entertaining outside. Theses stoneware plates are strong enough to hold up to outdoor use and dishwashing by young men too.
- A few years ago I replaced my motley group of umbrellas with three Ballard Design Auto-Tilt Sunbrella 11 foot umbrellas with black poles in the black/sand combo. I also bought the 50 pound extra weight to prevent them from falling over in storms. It’s been three years and they are still looking like new and working great. Excellent quality.
- I also need to order an outdoor rug for the deck and I love the Seaview Rug from Serena & Lily. I already have it in my kitchen and it’s indestructible. The new rose color would be pretty out here.
Now please go enjoy all these amazing women and their versions of outdoor living. I am excited as I always learn so much from everyone’s blogs and ideas..
ROUGH LUXE
CLASSIC CASUAL HOME
MOST LOVELY THINGS
EDB DESIGNS
KELLEY & CO HOME
MODERN GLAM
SHABBYFUFU
Also joining us in this collaboration is the talented Brooke Giannetti! She is author of the beautiful Patina Farm series of books about the oasis she and her husband Steve have created in Ojai, one of the most beautiful towns in California. Their home is so lovely and inspiring the way in brings the outdoors in!
You can see more of her home on Brooke’s Instagram, and Cindy, Mary Ann and Annie are holding contests giving her books!
Happy almost summer!
Kim
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Your outdoor spacing are so inspiring. I love how you’ve designated different areas that must make quarantine life much more bearable. It’s amazing how expanding outdoor spaces increases the feel of the size of a home. It’s great that you embraced your backyard brick. We’re going to do the same. It has it’s charm. And, it adds to the overall collected look of your backyard living space. Thanks for giving us another peak at the front yard as well … I forgot you also have a blue front door. Gorgeous. And, the way you created the low-walled front terrace is amazing … I can see how you (and your kitty cat) must be enjoying it. I’ve enjoyed following your renovation and thrilled by all glimpses into your beautiful life. xo
Juliet thank you so much. I’m glad you are digging the brick too. You know up here I noticed people are so quick to rip things out and start new and in Los Angeles and those areas I see a lot of people embracing the bricks and older quirky parts of the house and I love that. You’re absolutely right they give the house some charm I think. All new is missing that. The front patio was an afterthought that really made the house I think luckily. I knew I wanted tall skinny French doors, and had ordered two with a window between. My builder thought I would love the openness of a bigger French door and two big sidelights, and I agreed as I wanted more light. After it went in, I thought we could really use a patio out there, so I drove all over looking for examples and drew a picture for my builder and the cement guy and they made it happen. The walls are so good for guests! Anyway, I am glad you approve as you have fantastic taste- your home is so beautiful. xo
OH, NOW THAT WAS A FUN TOUR!I LOVE THE SOFA OUTSIDE CAN YOU NAP ON IT?
THE VINTAGE COFFEE TABLE IS PERFECT!
YOUR FRONT YARD IS STUNNING………..It looks like Palm Springs TO ME!I would be out there daily TOO!
TEN YEARS you lived here before RIPPING IT APART……….somehow I missed that FACT!
TOMATOES ALREADY?WE ARE SO BEHIND IN THE GARDEN……………..
I was chatting with a LESLIE the other day who we met at TISH’s BOOK SIGNING YEARS AGO……….YOU CAME UP AND SHE FOLLOWS YOU TOO!!!
SHE is down in CAPITOLA!
BEAUTIFUL POST…………as ALWAYS!
XX
Please come be my guest we will have tea and you can nap! I know we are coming along with the tomatoes. I think the alternating hot and cool days is good for the garden. I remember Leslie! How nice she is following. I love Capitola. xo
This is JUST gorgeous California living!!! You are going to make everyone want to move here and be your neighbor…including me. I’d like a dip in that pool. So great about the veggie garden….and I love decomposed granite. Really awesome job, Kim!
Mary Ann
Mary Ann you are very kind. I wish we were neighbors. xoxo
You have a beautiful outdoor space. It’s nice that you can get so much use out of it. Spending time outdoors on a summer evening would be wonderful but the mosquitoes here are just awful. They year me to shreds if I forget to apply an insect repellent.
Lorna I could not do well there. I have the kind of skin that they love. One time on a trip to Fiji I spent the whole vaca bitten up when no one else was. I guess we are lucky here. We don’t get many bugs unless you’re near natural water or the mountains. Hope you are enjoying summer and getting out there! xo
Kim! Your home, patio, pool area, and front natural landscaping is all so beautiful! I love how you used the Pacifica collection from Serena &Lily. It’s outdoor but as comfortable as anything I have inside! Love all the black touches to compliment your interior! You have the greatest style both personal style and home decor!
Annie, you are so kind. Thank you, but a lot of inspiration has actually come from you who loved black first! I do love our sofa so much. I could actually sleep out there, it’s that comfy! This was a fun collaboration with you all! xx
What a treat to get to see all these beautiful backyard retreats, and yours is truly wonderful. I love all the different areas that are so inviting and serene. Thank you for sharing your wonderful space.
Hi Gail thank you so much for folowing along with us all! I’ve had fun reading everyone’s post too!
Hi Kim
I love your outdoor space and don’t get rid of that great table! Love it with those chairs . You have such a great sense of style in everything you do. I need to do the big basket of throws are evenings are way cooler than yours I remembered that tip from a former post note to self do it! I love the Serena and Lily furniture that you used. It looks so great with your home.
Thank you Cindy, I’m glad you like the table. I guess I’ll be hanging onto it ! Yes the basket of throws comes in handy and makes us use the outside more in the evenings. I am very happy with my Serena & Lily couch and chairs!
I love how you have maximized the most out of your backyard. We try to do the same. I especially love your pool and how the patio is broken up between brick and the deck. Your whole space has a casual elegance to it that feels relaxing and inviting. Beautiful!
Thanks much Ashley! The Ipe wood deck is one of my favorite parts and If I could I’d redo the whole hardscape with it! xx
I’ve enjoyed the posts in this series from your fellow bloggers, such a good idea. Your yard is a wonderful oasis, especially now that we are spending so much time at home. I live in NJ and we are not allowed to have so much hard scape, and decks count as hard scape (because of flooding issues) so we have a small brick patio and lots of grass.
Hi Cathy thank you! I have never heard that you can be limited on hardscape! Wow . Is that why all the yards look so lovely and green there?. This is a lot of hardscape here in my yard! The family that owned this before me , owned a corporate landscaping company and they did all of this! We have drainage issues here in my town and my home is actually lower than the neighbors, so we all have sump pumps to keep our homes from collecting water under them!
Hi Kim,
Wow, gorgeous! Thanks so much for the tour of your outdoor spaces. I love all the little rooms you’ve created. I’m hoping to someday do some much needed landscape updating, the large pavers and crushed granite are on my list ( although advised against the granite because it can stitch to your shoes and scratch the wood floors in our house – do you have this problem?) How nice to have a pool to dip into when it gets hot, and I know it does in LG, even more than here.
Everything is really lovely, looks so stylish and comfortable. I can see why you’d be out there all the time!
XO Heidi
Heidi, Large pavers and crushed granite will look great. I find it funny so many people are against crushed granite. I also had a bit of pushback on it by many people who think it will be messy. To be honest, it hasn’t been the case. They tamp it down so it really stays in place. We don’t walk through it so much as we have a walkway, but honestly no one has tracked it in, or I haven’t noticed it inside and it’s been 9 months with it, and no scratching on my wood floors! We also have a shoe basket by the door, but I’m not super strict and we still wear shoes often and no problems. Thanks so much Heidi for saying that about the different spaces. Sometimes I worry it looks a little motley, but I like the different areas! xo
Hey Kim, your reno is looking beautiful, love the way all the plantings out front are filling in, and the lavender is gorgeous! You can see that you put a lot of thought and planning into the redo, well done!! I am sure you love it, but maybe more so now due to the current state of affairs 😷. , but you’ve created some really beautiful spaces . We are still building our new house(downsizing), and .😷I am trying to do the same, I hate to say it, but the pandemic has really helped this build in mind. Can’t wait to check out the other blogs. Thanks for giving us a peek at your lovely home. Take care and stay safe and healthy,. Robin
Hi Robin! Thank you for the sweet notes. I am excited the plants are filling in and it is all coming together, but a process for sure. I would not have imagined it would be a year after the move and I am still working on things! Yes, so glad we are in during this pandemic! It might have been tough in the rental with us all! I wish you well with your new place. I can imagine this pandemic has made you think about the choices a lot more right? Gosh looking forward to seeing it! Take care.xx
Hey Kim – love your blog. Its also really neat that you showcased the work of your friends too. Love them all.
We have a difficult time keeping our outdoor furniture looking fresh and clean. Is there a particular fabric or line that you find especially durable and easy to clean? We don’t have much humidity to contend with, so that makes things a bit easier. We’re fellow LG residents!
Thanks. Beautiful post as always.
Alissa
Hi Alissa! So glad to have someone from LG leave a note! Thank you. I agree we have pretty good conditions for outside furniture, but the sun fading and in fall and early spring the pollen can be bad and stain outdoor fabrics. So far, the Sunbrella fabric on my Serena & Lily couch and chair have been great. I just brush them off, but so far everything has washed off easily. I also put a throw over them when I am gone for long periods and at night, which helps. I know there is also Perennials fabrics which are stain and water resistant also meant for outdoors, but can fade after so many years. If you want really long wearing I’d go for something Sunbrella. Hope that helps! xo
Hi Kim, such a timely and wonderful post. I’ve really enjoyed spending time in these beautiful gardens! So many great ideas and they’re all so stylish, yet welcoming! I know I’ve commented many times in the past about how much I love your outdoor space but I haven’t commented on the bricks! I really love them, they add character and a little history to the space. Perfect mix of old and new! 💕
We’ve a very simple garden area , mainly to keep it low maintenance. Trees, grass, shrubs and paved areas … being at home this summer and seeing all your gorgeous spaces is definitely making me want to develop it more. I’ve started by buying some more outdoor furniture ( the easy part!😂) I’m also showing this to my daughter who’s outdoor space is full of mounds of mud and machinery at the moment as they start work on renovating and extending their home! They have wonderful views and are planning balcony areas on a couple of bedrooms and looking for ideas for the garden! I’m so excited for them!
Have a lovely weekend Kim.
Rosemary
Forget to say … I really like your dining table and chairs too, another great mix of old and new … I wouldn’t rush to change it! (Personally 😊)
Rosemary