One of the greatest challenges for growing families is to use the space inside and outside their home in the best way possible. Basically, how do you “grow out of your home” without looking like you are bursting at the seams?
When we moved into our quaint Aliso Viejo neighborhood, we instantly fell in love with the shuttered windows and cozy yards. But cozy can easily become crowded if you aren’t conscientious about using the space well. We recently remodeled our backyard in order to create more usable, kid-friendly space. Although I was completely against anything artificial, my husband proved to be the brains of the operation and hired Curtis Cooper from DelMar Turf who had some great ideas for making our yard what it needed to be. Curtis and his team were exceptional throughout the entire process. The product they recommended looks great and is pet/kid friendly! It rained just this morning, but our turf is already dry.
Before adding turf to the backyard, our space was barely usable. Our grass struggled to grow and the battle with constant mud puddles often outweighed the desire to play in the yard. Now that our family is growing, it is important for us to have a usable outdoor space.
In what feels like another life, I was an elementary school teacher. I am often searching for and/or designing games to engage our daughter in meaningful activities. As part of our remodel, we ordered a child-size potting table from Custom Raised Gardens. The table is the perfect size for our daughter to grow in to and it offers storage options for her toys as well as our gardening supplies. Now all we need is to add some decor on the table itself and a couple of shrub and flowering bushes around the base.
By imagining how your family will be in a space, you can design furniture/décor that can support its use. This area in our yard will now serve as a play space for our daughter, workbench for mom and dad, and a beautiful backdrop on our fence – all resting on our mud-free grass! We expanded the size of our yard by taking a couple simple steps and making sure it was user friendly for all members of our household!