apartment therapy changing the world, one room at a time

Thanks Apartment Therapy for showing off our big yard! It is always a work in progress, and we would love some constructive criticism! (there aren't always 2 picnic tables- this was set up for our engagement party!) If you would like to see how everything progresses (it has already changed!) along with our new home projects, check out our blog here:
http://www.makemineeclectic.wordpress.com
Thanks again everybody!

Nice big space, pretty trees. But, I dunno... doesn't seem like there's much going on here. It's a yard. Maybe a 'before' picture would show us more.

Utterly charming. I'd love to see what you started with.

Sorry! I should have shown a before! You can see before pictures on the blog, though. The entire yard was giant piles of compost, mud, and limbs and twigs, as the previous owners thought they would sell the composting piles. Some of the bare grass spots are still growing in slowly, and the big log is being used for seating around what is actually a brick fire pit in the center, but will be replaced with an old baseball bench which we inherited. Pictures on the blog also show the brick fire pit much more clearly!

Wow. That's huge. When I looked at the first picture, I thought it was a park. As you continue to work on it, it might help to break it up more into "rooms." Give each area a bit more definition. A picnic area, an outdoor reading area, etc.

Congrats on all your hard work, but this is not very apartment therapy-worthy.

i (heart) huge yards. even better (going forward) would be to delineate spaces with walls, small fields of decomposed granite or sand, screen hedges, etc... this yard is so big, it can be separated into many spaces (think huge formal/english gardens with a hedge labyrinth)... and give it a sense of scale (presently, there's small and huge), differentiation in texture and color of plants, too (red-leafed plants, evergreens, etc). get some depth and scale up near the house as well to hide the foundation wall. you can do this without adding to your maintenance -- in fact, if done correctly, it'd be less work. try visiting some huge estate homes in your area to see what they've done with their garden spaces...

This is like many Midwestern yards. I'm glad you are happy with it, but I agree with meleslecky - it should not be on Apartment Therapy.

I think the yard is great--love the happy-looking chairs, pillows, tablecloth, and lanterns. I'm not sure why people are being so snarky about it, other than perhaps that it is a very big yard and thus not something that many apartment-dwellers would be lucky enough to have.

Thanks everybody for all of your input! I'm not sure why it's not apartment therapy worthy, except for the fact that it is large. But, we often read the site and take inspiration from it, so we do what we can with college student budgets and try to make it a cozy, fun space. I thought that that would be enough to show it!

Thanks, Jessimarie. There are so many of us who read this blog who live in houses. If it's not AT's mission to show anything other than apartments, then all postings of homes with four walls should be banned. And that would be too bad.

And by the way, this is a dreamy yard. I love seeing homes in parts of the country that are generally underrepresented, too. I have no idea where Prophetstown, IL, is, but now I want to go there!

Great job and cool blog - that kitchen facelift is inspiring.

@sally305: I see your point. But there are so many sites/blogs/magazines out there that cater to house owners. So it's nice to have something dedicated to smaller spaces, which have unique challenges.

I saw the pic and was all, "dang people are gonna get mad about this being a house," and AT readers did not disappoint!

Oh man people always need something to cry about. Houses even larger are featured on here everyday. The house itself is actually very tiny. But anyways, thanks to those of you who were nice and constructive!

This yard belongs to an apartment?

jyw,

Actually there aren't many sites/blogs/magazines that cater to house owners--and certainly not to owners of small houses like mine. One of the primary features that bring me to this site is small-space solutions, which are not featured in the typical home-decor publications and websites.

Anyway--it's not like you pay for your AT subscription and it's wasting paper or resources to see an article you don't like. I am sure there are others you scroll right past every day. But you were intrigued enough about this one to open the link and comment. :)

Well, I didn't make the original complaint. I just see where that poster was coming from, as I see where you are coming from. That is all.

I get it. And if you know of other good blogs that cater to house owners with modest-size dwellings and budgets, I would love to know about them. It seems that everything I see (apart from this site) is way more high-end and HUGE than my own reality.

Your yard makes me nostalgic for my Midwestern childhood. I can see kids turning cartwheels and catching butterflies, grandma in one of those red metal chairs, men playing horseshoes and women bringing out potato salad and pies from the kitchen. Those who want you to "make rooms" or formal gardens or change a thing about your yard just don't get it.