Before and After: See 5 Dramatic Front Yard Updates
These makeovers, including a parking-strip farm and an entertaining hub, elevate the typical front yard
There’s so much you can accomplish with a front yard, whether it’s cultivating curb appeal or creating an outdoor living space that encourages neighborly interactions. Although the backyard is often the priority when it comes to outdoor renovation projects, as the 2017 U.S. Houzz Landscape Trends Study reveals, the front yard is in hot pursuit. See how five homeowners enhanced their outdoor living spaces by redesigning their front yards.
After: The landscape renovation also coincided with an update to the home’s exterior, as the homeowners installed HardiePanel board-and-batten siding for a more contemporary farmhouse look to complement the colors of the new plantings.
The redesign of the front yard focused on creating a welcoming entry filled with colorful and textural plants that require little water. “The plants lead the eye from the home to the garden and back again,” Scott says.
The plants shown here include:
Read more about this landscape renovation
The redesign of the front yard focused on creating a welcoming entry filled with colorful and textural plants that require little water. “The plants lead the eye from the home to the garden and back again,” Scott says.
The plants shown here include:
- Grevillea (Grevillea sp.)
- Foxtail fern (Asparagus densiflorus ‘Myers’, USDA zones 9 to 11, find your zone)
- Blue chalk sticks (Senecio cylindricus, zones 10 to 11)
- Silver carpet (Dymondia margaretae, zones 9 to 11)
- Tree aeonium (Aeonium arboreum, zones 9 to 10)
- Conebush (Leucadendron ‘Jester’, zones 9 to 10)
Read more about this landscape renovation
2. Edible Parking Strip
Yard at a Glance
Who uses it: Tom Richardson and his wife
Location: Wallingford neighborhood of Seattle
Size: 1,000 square feet (93 square meters)
Before: The land in front of Tom Richardson’s Seattle home, commonly called the parking strip or the hell strip, contained a lawn, but he wanted to make better use of the green space bordering his house. Richardson already grew many ornamental and edible plants in other areas of his yard, and after seeing many of his neighbors transform their parking strips into edible gardens, he hired landscape designer Erin Lau to do the same.
Yard at a Glance
Who uses it: Tom Richardson and his wife
Location: Wallingford neighborhood of Seattle
Size: 1,000 square feet (93 square meters)
Before: The land in front of Tom Richardson’s Seattle home, commonly called the parking strip or the hell strip, contained a lawn, but he wanted to make better use of the green space bordering his house. Richardson already grew many ornamental and edible plants in other areas of his yard, and after seeing many of his neighbors transform their parking strips into edible gardens, he hired landscape designer Erin Lau to do the same.
After: Lau started by excavating the lawn and laying down bark mulch. Custom-made juniper raised beds solve the problems of the parking strip’s poor, compacted soil and the constant foot traffic. They also invite pedestrians or visitors from the park across the street to take a seat on their extra-wide overhangs.
A birdbath and a pollinator garden add more design interest and greenery to the parking strip, tying it in with the rest of the garden while attracting beneficial wildlife.
Read more about this parking-strip garden | Attract Pollinators for a Productive Edible Garden
A birdbath and a pollinator garden add more design interest and greenery to the parking strip, tying it in with the rest of the garden while attracting beneficial wildlife.
Read more about this parking-strip garden | Attract Pollinators for a Productive Edible Garden
3. Enclosed Patio Retreat
Yard at a Glance
Who uses it: A retired couple
Location: Brentwood neighborhood of Los Angeles
Patio size: 558 square feet (51.8 square meters)
Before: The midcentury home sits on a busy street in L.A.’s Brentwood neighborhood. With heavy pedestrian and vehicle traffic passing by every day, the exposed patch of lawn didn’t get much use or provide a relaxing outdoor space for the homeowners.
Yard at a Glance
Who uses it: A retired couple
Location: Brentwood neighborhood of Los Angeles
Patio size: 558 square feet (51.8 square meters)
Before: The midcentury home sits on a busy street in L.A.’s Brentwood neighborhood. With heavy pedestrian and vehicle traffic passing by every day, the exposed patch of lawn didn’t get much use or provide a relaxing outdoor space for the homeowners.
After: Architect Kurt Krueger transformed the front yard into a private outdoor living space during a whole-home renovation. He filled the double-sided Douglas fir fence with rigid insulation to reduce noise, and he spaced the planks at the top of the fence to allow in more light while maintaining privacy. The same siding for the fence covers the house, creating a cohesive continuity.
Inside the fence, the patio is outfitted like an extension of the home, with a steel-and-Sunbrella shade structure, porcelain floor tiles, luxe lounge furniture, subtle outdoor lighting and a water feature (which also helps muffle street noise).
Read more about this patio transformation | Browse outdoor lounge furniture
Read more about this patio transformation | Browse outdoor lounge furniture
4. A Collection of Gathering Spaces
Yard at a Glance
Who uses it: Sacha McCrae; her husband, Rob; and their son, Josh
Location: San Clemente, California
Total size of front and back yards: 4,600 square feet (427 square meters)
Before: Homeowner and landscape designer Sacha McCrae of Living Gardens Landscape Design lived in a home steps away from the beach, but her overgrown front yard didn’t allow her to take advantage of the coastal views. It also didn’t appear all that inviting to friends and neighbors.
Yard at a Glance
Who uses it: Sacha McCrae; her husband, Rob; and their son, Josh
Location: San Clemente, California
Total size of front and back yards: 4,600 square feet (427 square meters)
Before: Homeowner and landscape designer Sacha McCrae of Living Gardens Landscape Design lived in a home steps away from the beach, but her overgrown front yard didn’t allow her to take advantage of the coastal views. It also didn’t appear all that inviting to friends and neighbors.
After: The front yard is now a space for gathering. Multiple seating areas — such as an elevated deck with chaises and a circle of chairs around a fire pit —offer different experiences and destinations. (This photo was taken looking toward the ocean from the house.)
Resilient, attractive and low-water plants like aeonium and elfin thyme (Thymus serpyllum ‘Elfin’, zones 4 to 8) edge the gathering areas, providing a soft break between the hardscape elements and adding color and texture to the design.
White armchairs: West Elm
Read more about this entire yard transformation
Resilient, attractive and low-water plants like aeonium and elfin thyme (Thymus serpyllum ‘Elfin’, zones 4 to 8) edge the gathering areas, providing a soft break between the hardscape elements and adding color and texture to the design.
White armchairs: West Elm
Read more about this entire yard transformation
5. Midcentury Welcome
Yard at a Glance
Who uses it: James Judge and his husband, Andy Albrecht
Location: Palm Springs, California
Before: Although a driveway and a carport dominate the front yard of this midcentury modern home in the California desert, as is the case with many homes of the period, they didn’t preclude an opportunity to create a welcoming and attractive front yard that also tied in with the home’s era and location. “We had to bring it back to what it was meant to be,” says homeowner and designer James Judge of Flipping Diaries.
Yard at a Glance
Who uses it: James Judge and his husband, Andy Albrecht
Location: Palm Springs, California
Before: Although a driveway and a carport dominate the front yard of this midcentury modern home in the California desert, as is the case with many homes of the period, they didn’t preclude an opportunity to create a welcoming and attractive front yard that also tied in with the home’s era and location. “We had to bring it back to what it was meant to be,” says homeowner and designer James Judge of Flipping Diaries.
After: A new orange gate, front door and planters create a vivacious entry where all the elements play with one another and speak to the desert aesthetic. “Orange makes it feel very Palm Springs,” Judge says. Blue cools and contrasts the design, as seen in the frame around the frosted entry fence.
Although much of the yard remains hidden from view, the succulent plantings, matching container plantings, midcentury modern light fixture, and colorful new front gate and fence create a fun and attractive landscape that doesn’t require much maintenance to create a high impact.
Address numbers: Hobby Lobby; hanging globe light: Sea Gull Lighting
Read more about this midcentury modern home
Your turn: Have you recently renovated your front yard? Show us the dramatic before-and-afters in the Comments below.
More
8 Ways to Create a Neighborly Front Yard
Upgrade Your Front Yard for Curb Appeal and More
Although much of the yard remains hidden from view, the succulent plantings, matching container plantings, midcentury modern light fixture, and colorful new front gate and fence create a fun and attractive landscape that doesn’t require much maintenance to create a high impact.
Address numbers: Hobby Lobby; hanging globe light: Sea Gull Lighting
Read more about this midcentury modern home
Your turn: Have you recently renovated your front yard? Show us the dramatic before-and-afters in the Comments below.
More
8 Ways to Create a Neighborly Front Yard
Upgrade Your Front Yard for Curb Appeal and More
Yard at a Glance
Who uses it: Julie McMahon, Greg Fontana and their two young daughters
Location: Manhattan Beach, California
Lot size: 6,000 square feet (557 square meters)
Before: The front yard of this Southern California beach house consisted of little more than crabgrass and some unmanicured shrubs surrounding a mature king palm tree. The homeowners removed the lawn and shrubs on their own before they hired landscape architect June Scott to redesign the space.