The courtyard might be one of the coolest things about this house. Besides the fact that you must walk through it in order to arrive at our (glass) front door, all the windows on the front of our home look out into this courtyard. Essentially it’s the view we get to see from almost every room in our home. We immediately thought of it as a bonus room. It had to be extra beautiful!
So when we first moved in it was a big empty space. A big. Empty. Brick. Space.
Of course I immediately had a million ideas flying around in my head, but I had to real them in and focus on one design. Eventually I decided that since we live in the desert I was going to go with a “lush” desert theme. If thats even possible… It also needed it to be modern, yet romantic to match in inside of the home.
So I set out searching for the perfect planters for my future desert plants. Eventually I found them. Exactly what I had wanted! Sleek, modern, monochromatic colors and since I really only wanted to use white and gray it was love at first site! I found them at West Elm (you’re about to see a theme here. West Elm is my most-loved store and 9 times out of 10 where I find what I’m looking for)
Most of the exact planters we ended up going with are currently sold out but you can find very similar ones on this link here: West Elm Outdoor
I knew that I wanted taller planters framing the front door with a cluster of smaller ones around. Its important to mix size and texture especially when you’re not working with a lot of color. Also as a common rule, clustering in odd numbers is usually the most visually appealing.
So now that we have our planters all set up the next step was to fill them with something beautiful. Sticking with my desert theme we set out for the plant nursery where I literally lost my mind! The selection was massive! I was in succulent heaven!
What I knew for sure, was that I needed height around the front door. So I went with these tall cactus things. They were reasonably priced at $50 each, relatively safe for the kids (as long as they keep their little fingers away) and needed a lot of sunlight and very little water and maintenance. Perfect!
I am kind of obsessed with Agave. Living in the desert, it certainly is a useful plant, but I love that they look like giant artichokes. So, I went with the artichoke Agave plant. stunning!
I chose a variety of different succulents for my smaller planters. They pretty, easy to care for and add all sorts of different textures to my space.
After all the gardening it was time to add a place to sit. I headed back to West elm and found these teak chairs and ottomans. I also picked up this little table for in-between them (to hold my coffee…naturally)
You can find some similar things here: West Elm Outdoor Furniture
Whenever designing a space, never just plop down furniture and think it’s finished. Anchoring your space with a rug and accessories is almost as important as your furniture selection. In this case, I had a large space and I was only putting furniture into a small corner. I had to anchor that space with an outdoor rug. I kept it simple by selecting black and white. Two colors that’ll never go out of style. I found mine at Lulu & Georgia. Here it is: Striped Rug
I used a 5X8 for this small space.
Im loving the return of the large banana leaf print (channeling Blanch from the Golden Girls) so I found these super cute outdoor pillows on Etsy. You can find a ton of options here: Banana Leaf Pillows
Lastly, the doormats. I KNEW I wanted them to be fun! There are so many cute and funny ones out there right now but I settled on these.
You can find them at Macys here: Sup Doormat and here Neighbors Doormat
All in all Im thrilled with how this turned out. It’s currently decorated for Halloween so just ignore the extra silly stuff. I don’t think this is fully complete as my creative juices are still flowing for this courtyard. I’d love to add a love seat or even a full sofa so I can cuddle with my little ones under a blanket and read books. My next project out here is to add string lights overhead. They add such pretty light and I’m hoping it’ll lure Charlie and me outside for a glass of wine together after we put the kiddos to sleep. I’ll add pictures and details when the lights are up and looking twinkly and magical.
Chao!
Shannon says
Omg! Your courtyard is amazing!
kellyestone@yahoo.com says
Thanks so much Shannon! It’s still not finished, one of my goals is to get the string lights hung in January and get a sofa out there before spring. I’ll post more pics once it’s done ?