It’s a welcome sign to designer John Gidding that homeowners seem more willing now to incorporate front yards into their ideas for outdoor living. When he began hosting shows on HGTV, he received push back from folks when he tried to create seating in the front yards.
“I find it an extremely intimate space,” he said. “It really helps the neighborhood and property values when people start using their front yard.”
Gidding, whose firm, Janus Arch, has offices in Atlanta, New York and Los Angeles, will be the featured speaker at the 32nd annual Fall Atlanta Home Show and Outdoor Living Expo (AtlantaHomeShow.com), which features 300-plus exhibitors and runs Sept. 11-13.
Gidding shared five ways to turn a front yard and porch into a spot for welcoming, gathering and relaxing.
1. Give it a gate.
Gates can create a connection to your home’s architectural style and serve as a decorative entryway. If your budget allows for it, you can combine a gate with stone work in the front yard, implying a courtyard, Gidding said.
2. Pick a path.
“People are getting creative with their paths,” Gidding said. He suggests herringbone-style brick or tile. A May 2015 Houzz.com study of 1,600 homeowners found that pavers are the most popular option (52 percent), followed by gravel/crushed rock (38 percent), stone slabs (36 percent), pebbles/small rocks (33 percent), concrete (31 percent), bark chips (25 percent) and brick (16 percent).
3. Hang up a new house number.
House numbers allow homeowners to express and customize their design style. Options include oversized and 3D formats and carving the numbers into stone. “It’s a favorite topic of mine,” Gidding said. “You can find so many different styles of house numbers.”
4. Bring in a bench.
Benches provide gracious and chic seating options. Benches tied with grills for the second-most purchased item (27 percent each) in the May 2015 Houzz.com study. Benches also can be built into walls and fences to appear as if they are part of the architecture, Gidding said.
5. Create a container garden.
Containers can find a home in a front yard or flanking a front door. For fall, containers in jewel tones could be an elegant entryway update. “I try to tell my clients that bigger is usually better. A large pot will hold more soil and moisture. Therefore, they need to be watered less often,” Gidding said. “The nice thing about container plants is how easily they can be changed from season to season.”
If You Go
32nd Annual Fall Atlanta Home Show and Outdoor Living Expo
When: 10 a.m.-6 p.m. Friday, Sept. 11; 10 a.m.-7 p.m. Saturday, Sept. 12; 11 a.m.-5 p.m. Sunday, Sept. 13
Where: Cobb Galleria Centre, Two Galleria Parkway, Atlanta 30339
Prices: $10; free for ages 12 and under, and adults age 65 and up (with ID)
Info: AtlantaHomeShow.com, 770-798-1997
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