HGTV’s Chris Lambton and Peyton Wright’s 7 Low Cost Tips for Backyard Upgrades

Chris Lambton teaches easy tricks to upgrade your yard on HGTV's Chris Lambton and Peyton Wright got their individual starts on the "Bachelor" franchise, but the newlyweds who met through another "Bachelor" alum have ditched their reality roots and started to "grow" a new business. They're now the stars of HGTV's "Going Yard," where the pair transforms backyards into inviting outdoor spaces. Chris does the landscaping, while Peyton puts the finishing touches on the backyard with décor. We caught up with the cute couple to get their tips on easy backyard fixes that will transform your space from drab to fab without doling out the dollars.

Tip #1 - Treat Your Backyard Like a Part of Your Home: The pair say they often see backyards full of old furniture or things that haven't been taken to the dump yet. "I feel like most people use their backyards as a storage container," Chris lamented. "If people would clean up their backyard with the stuff that they have back there, it would add so much space to their house." Adds Peyton, "If you use your outdoor space you can double the size of your [living] space. It is a waste of space not to use it. "

Tip #2 - Give it a Good Clean: "If you have stone [on a patio] it can get grimy, so power wash it. Get all the dirt off… it will bring it right back to life," says Chris. "A lot of times after fall and winter you have a lot of different trees and the leaves get crushed into the stone." If you have a weathered looking patio, Chris says an easy update is to sand it down and paint a fresh coat of clear varnish on.

Tip #3 - Dress Up Your Space with Furniture: "Go to a yard sale and find something that may be trash to somebody else, [but work for your yard]. Get a piece of sandpaper and a can of spray paint - it goes a long way. You can change the color and then get different pillows for your furniture," shares Peyton. As she says, you don't have to break the bank to make your backyard space look shiny and new!

Tip # 4 - Light It Up: Adding ambience through lighting is simple and adds a sophisticated touch. "Candles or ornamental Christmas lights give that picnic feel [in the yard] and they're affordable," Peyton suggests. While Chris prefers fire pits. "If you ever go to a party with a fire pit, literally guys are like moths -- we just stand there and stare at it. It provides light and it stops mosquitoes," Chris laughed. He created a fire pit in his backyard by drystacking Pennsylvania field stone in a circle and used peastone on the bottom of the pit. For inexpensive seating around their fire pit the Lambtons used wine barrels cut in half.

Tip #5 - Add a Garden: A big trend right now is sustainable living, so an affordable and eco-friendly tip is to add a garden to your backyard. "You can nail a couple 2x4s together and you've got yourself a raised garden. It's not hard if you have a little bit of carpentry skills. That's great because you see the fruits of your labor in a couple months," says Chris. He says to remember to give "big growers" like tomatoes, cucumbers, and squash plenty of space to grow by not planting them too close together.

Tip #6 - Get Creative With Pots: Different pots can add color and whimsy to your space, and also be functional year-round. "There are tons of different pots, with tons of different sizes - plastic, clay - but it depends on what you want to use it for," shares Chris. They like to pot herbs which look good, but also taste good! Chris suggests potting herbs in plastic pots so that they're easy to bring inside during the winter.

Tip #7 - Weed, Weed and More Weeding: It is a simple task that most yard lovers hate, but Chris says pesky weeds create more problems than just an unsightly look in your yard. "If there are weeds in your garden, they're going to suck the water away from your flowers and vegetable garden." He suggests weeding as soon as you see them pop up so you don't take away from the plants you actually want to grow.

Catch Chris and Peyton on "Going Yard" for more tips and tricks on HGTV, Saturdays 5pm/4c.