15 Amazing Outdoor Makeovers

Gain curb appeal and transform your outdoor living space with fresh ideas for your porch, patio, and yard

1. Aging garage turned guesthouse

This crumbling garage seemed to hold little promise for stylish live/work space.


The remodel enlarged the building to include a bathroom, loft, and a small roof deck, so it can double as guest quarters.
It can also still function as a garage thanks to a set of glass-paneled Dutch doors opening on the plywood-paneled office side.

2. Creating colorful curb appeal

The front yard of this Bremerton, Washington home used to be all lawn―and not very happy lawn at that.
There was another problem. Because the street sloped sharply downhill, there was a dangerous drop-off between the front walk and the deeply recessed driveway.


Enclosing the yard solved the drop-off problem

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the fence runs along the driveway as well as along the sidewalk.
Thanks to its interesting stepped back sectional design and lively color the lattice fence adds plenty of decorative appeal as well. The row of Spanish lavender in front of it accentuates the fence's cheery color.

3. Craftsman makeover

A 700-square-foot home is a tight squeeze, even for two people. But Michelle and Jeremy Walker knew they could turn their modest Ventura home into a mini-bungalow and find space for a little jewel of a garden.
The Walkers added a new gable that spanned the width of the house, and underneath they installed two stone pillars topped with vertical wood posts and an overhead beam. They also poured a wider concrete porch and added a wall. But they weren't finished.


The next step―despite having only 18 feet between porch and wall to work with―was creating a convincing garden.
Michelle managed to squeeze in a maple tree, wisteria vine, weeping bamboo, ornamental grasses, a fountain, and a dry river bed to create good feng shui―all without the space feeling crowded.

4. Modern façade makeover

A dated façade and a bleak concrete front yard is what the owners of this '50s rancher got when they bought their house in Encino, California. Instead of remodeling the home, though, the couple used a simpler, less costly strategy to solve both problems.


This may look like a whole new house, but the sleek façade is really a wall masking a brand new open-air living room.
See how they did it

5. Desert front yard facelift

A scruffy lawn and an oddly configured walkway do nothing for this Phoenix house, and the yard is wasted space.


They replaced the lawn with drought-tolerant grasses, then added young trees and a paved area beside the front door.
See how they did it

6. A modern remodel

The front wall of this mid-century modern house was designed to be minimal―its blank façade broken only by high clerestory windows. But a previous owner had added a conventional window at head height, spoiling the simple design.
The brick patio didn't work either. The pattern was too complicated for the style of the house and its surface was broken and uneven.


The offending window is gone. And simple concrete pads replace the broken, buckling bricks―a much better fit for the clean, simple lines of the house.

7. A gloomy entry becomes welcoming

Once upon a time, there was a house that was not exactly welcoming. Overgrown Monterey pines obscured the front door, making the approach gloomy. And for guests, getting from the driveway to the front door was a pain

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after parking, you had to return to the sidewalk, skirting a jungle of juniper, and climb a steep staircase.


Removing the pines and replacing the junipers with a garden of carex, 'Tiny Monster' geranium, and Scotch moss groundcover definitely brightened things up; a row of low-growing purple 'Tom Thumb' phormium and a single showy 'Red Star' cordyline punctuate the palette of lime and dark greens. And now, broad stairs lead hospitably from the driveway straight to the front door.

8. Awkward patio turned prime party spot

Covered with decomposed granite and sloping awkwardly toward the rear of the property, this small backyard was no place for a party.
Owners Susan and Warren Byrne love to entertain, though, so landscape architect Jude Hellewell and landscape designer Laura White created a split-level living space complete with built-in seating and a peekaboo fence.


The gravel was replaced with two levels of colored concrete. The Byrnes use the upper terrace mostly for dining and hanging out; three steps down, a built-in bench invites guests to lounge around the firepit.
A gappy ipe fence gives a sense of spaciousness while preserving privacy. Low care plants, such as autumn moor grass, Mexican weeping bamboo, and yucca, soften the angular design.

9. A front yard paradise

This Costa Mesa yard was little more than 1,500 square feet of tired lawn and broken tiles in a challengingly arid climate.


Landscape designer Brooke Dietrich added a fence and then―inspired by the king palm―went for size and color in her plantings. Building this garden around an existing king palm called for vibrant flowers, cool foliage, and strong shapes. Dietrich chose to paint her fence a plant-framing black. To cut costs, she kept her hardscaping to a minimum, adding only a new front walk made of budget-friendly concrete. Then she planted shrubs and perennials, placing colorful blooms outside the fence and quieter green plants inside the fence.

10. Lose the lawn

Lawns require an inch of water a week to maintain during the growing season.
And except for a big clump of overgrown wisteria, this large Seattle front yard was all grass―a real water hog. Landscape designer Stacie Crooks knew it had to go.


Now Crooks' front yard stops traffic. Instead of lawn she has a large mixed border. It includes evergreen shrubs like Ceanothus and Viburnum, grassy foliage plants like Carex and Phormium, and tons of perennials, including asters, penstemon, and euphorbia. Best of all, this extravaganza of plants requires less than one-half the water the lawn needed.
Beautiful alternatives to lawn

11. Exotic front yard makeover

The owners of this house in San Diego, CA, wanted a front yard that was water efficient and self-sustaining but also something more stylish than their old turf grass. And they wanted something more compatible with their Spanish-style architecture and that also better reflected their interest in travel to exotic places like Morocco and sub-Saharan Africa.


A tapestry of succulents replaces the old turf. Designer Kendra Berger used 5 kinds of aloes, two types of aeonium, Bulbine frutescens, Agave attenuata, and lots of blue Senecio mandraliscae to play off the Moroccan blue of the pots. She added a new set of pilasters along the stairs―perfect perches for more pots―and faced the risers with blue and white Spanish tiles.

12. Kick up the curb appeal

Summers are hot in Grants Pass, Oregon, and a front yard that is mostly rocky mulch makes them feel more so. So when homeowners Ken and Beverly Behymer bought their house they asked landscape architect Jim Love to make the space feel cooler but without causing their water bill to spike significantly.


A variety of plants with low water requirements replace the former sterile expanse of rocks. They are all heat-tolerant and were chosen to provide year-round interest. Oriental fountain grass (Pennisetum orientale), in full plume here, is one of the garden's stars.
Behind the low wall, flame grass (Miscanthus sinensis 'Purpurascens') is just beginning its transition to brilliant orange fall color. Between the pavers, adding a touch of coolness, is 'Red Carpet' sedum.

13. Lush yard makeover

This West Hollywood front yard went from dull to dazzling with this makeover by designer Katherine Spitz. The problem before was a boring lawn, with no privacy (West Hollywood bans any kind of fence taller than 42 inches that fully encloses a front yard).


As a solution Spitz ditched the lawn and got creative with screening. She put up color panels, added vivid plants, and created multi-use areas to make the yard inviting and livable.
See the complete makeover

14. A movie-lover's yard

With its scraggly lawn and rickety fence, this yard looked neglected. With the help of landscape designer Mark Tessier, Rika Houston and her architect husband Brian Ten overhauled their yard to create a gathering spot for the family, which includes 9-year-old daughter Maya and teenage sons Cole and Taro. With a simple set-up, they transformed it into an outdoor movie-screening space.


Sinking into the cushy sofa with lanterns lit overhead, guests watch The Birds or The Sound of Music on a screen nearly as big as the garage wall. "In the summer, every Friday is movie night," says Houston.
See the complete makeover

15. Garden shed makeover

When garden designer Rebecca Sweet and her husband, Tom Urban, bought their property from her parents in 2000, their garden shed was run down . "It was nearly a man cave," Sweet says. "I decided to take a stand against all that nonsense―ha!"


Together the couple converted the structure into the backyard retreat it is now. They pushed up the ceiling to create a peaked roof; installed skylights and recycled windows; hung window boxes on outside walls with planting beds beneath; and created an outdoor potting table and tool storage area behind the shed near the back fence.