A Pretty Pink Yard Makeover

I have to admit, it’s hard to work on your yard in this country. The summer sun is harsh enough to kill most of your plants and to completely destroy outdoor furniture. So when Huong asked me to help her with her outdoor space, I knew it had to be super budget friendly, Saudi summer heat friendly, and because it’s a rental home, also very much in line with the compound’s safety standards (exposed wiring covered with conduits, plugged into outlets, etc.).

Since we’ve already done Huong’s living room and guest bedroom, I had a really good idea as to what kind of vibe she was looking for in her yard, but there were a lot of things that she needed from this space…

• To be able to entertain 10-15 people multiple times a month (she’s an incredible cook and throws lots of parties)
• For her husband to be able to sit comfortably outside and read
• To have closed storage for her garden and BBQ supplies
• To be able to prep and manage food on a countertop when BBQing

So I really had to design practical spaces that could be used for multiple purposes – my favorite kind of challenge! And on top of that, Huong really didn’t want to spend too much money on furnishings or on a lot of extra details, so we really had to work with what we had, and had a local carpenter build what we couldn’t find for cheap.

I had sort of forgotten what this space used to look like, and I’m pretty surprised at how far it has come along. It’s a very dramatic before and after actually! Unfortunately though, as much as I’d love to remove the electrical casings from my “after” pictures, it’s just a part of rental home reality here. I hate to see them, but I’m not going to pretend like they don’t factor into the design process for a rental home.

Now the one thing that you can do to make them less obvious is to paint them the same color as the wall that they’re on, which we didn’t do on the house (ugh bad call!), but it helps. Also make sure to take them up the corners when you can and preferably not through the middle of a wall. And as you’ll see in the after pictures, if you get the lighting just right, you’ll barely even notice the ugly casings at night…

| AFTER |

To accommodate for more people, we decided to tile out half of the lawn area, add some planters, and make that the dining area. The tiles were a second hand purchase and were installed by a local carpenter who also built the cement planters. We also added some planting beds along the walls next to the palm tree with pebbles in them – it gives that area a little bit of contrast against the pink walls. I am totally in love with the pink walls, but I can’t take credit for them at all – it was all Huong! I was a little skeptical when she first told me she wanted pink walls, but I fell hard as soon as the color went up.

Huong had seen a picture of a seating area between planters with wooden slats behind it on Pinterest, so we tried to recreate the same look and added some storage space underneath the seating as well. For more storage, we added a ÄPPLARÖ storage bench and cabinets with countertops from IKEA.

White Chairs, Dragon City Bahrain | Table, Built by a Local Carpenter | Fire Pit | Spotlights & Wall Lights, Zakwan | Wall shelves, Ali Express | Outdoor coffee table, IKEA | Any other items not listed were part of Huong’s existing furnishings. I do not have any information about those items.

| AFTER AT NIGHT |

Now I normally don’t try to take photos in full darkness, but I really wanted you to see how well placed lighting and great fixtures can change the whole feel of a yard…

To help set the mood, we used a combination of different lighting sources – uplighting, downlighting and string lights. It is so important to layer your lighting if you want to be able to control and create a specific kind of atmosphere in your yard. Uplighting is great to highlight any plants that you want featured in your yard, downlighting is more subtle and adds soft lighting to plants from up top, and the string lights can help with overall brightness. As you can see below, if you want a more romantic atmosphere, you can turn off the string lights and light up the whole space with the wall lights and spotlights.

Spotlights & Wall Lights, Zakwan | Since Huong had the string lights from before, I do not have any information on this item. 

Well I hope you enjoyed the yard makeover! Dramatic, right?

Have a beautiful week!

Want to see more?

Check out Huong’s Boho Chic Home in the TDS Interiors Portfolio section of the blog for more project highlights of her living room and guest bedroom.