This is a sponsored post. I am a Shop Your Way blogger, but all opinions are my own.
If you’re like most people you will be trying to spend as much time as possible outside this Summer.
Besides wanting to spend time outside in the Summer, people also start making plans to update their outdoor space, whether it be an apartment balcony or a large backyard.
For those of you who want to update your outdoor space but aren’t sure whether outdoor upgrades and projects are affordable, I’m here to tell you it is possible to update your outdoor space on a budget.
It’s also important to recognize what impact the changes to your outdoor space can have when selling a home. Increasing curb appeal and making your outdoor space more appealing can make your home sell quicker and a higher price.
It may take some careful planning and work on your part, but you definitely can update your outdoor space on a budget. Today I have 7 tips for how you can do just that.
1) DIY Whenever Possible
If you’ve ever browsed Angie’s List and read reviews for outdoor work you know that outdoor projects can get expensive quick. I am planning on replacing and extending a retaining wall next month and some of the quoted prices that people paid are jaw-dropping. Virtually any large outdoor project can quickly reach five figures.
If you are trying to update your outdoor space on a budget make sure to Do-It-Yourself (DIY) whenever possible. If you are able to utilize YouTube, online articles, books, and other resources to plan and execute your project you very well could save yourself thousands of dollars. Even small projects like a fire pit can get expensive quick.
2) Upgrade rocks or mulch
Another outdoor project my wife and I are working on is getting rid of all our old, ugly rock and replacing it with fresh mulch. This has become quite the project as there are small rocks all along the perimeter of our house. Here’s a pic of the ugly rock we are in the process of getting rid of:
If you currently have ugly rocks or mulch consider upgrading it. Having attractive landscaping rock or mulch can have a big impact on the overall feel of your outdoor space.
If you want to do it on the cheap you can always take the approach we did. I reached out to our garbage disposal company and asked if I could slowly get rid of our rock in the trash. They said that was perfectly fine. So for over a year now we have been putting shovelful after shovelful of rock into our trash, at no additional cost to us.
3) Choose Inexpensive Lighting Options
Having good lighting can greatly improve an outdoor space. Unfortunately hiring an electrician to add low-voltage outdoor lighting or change security lighting can be very expensive. If you can’t justify or afford an electrician for this you may think you’re out of luck. Not true.
There is actually a lot of less-expensive lighting alternatives on the market today for your outdoor space. There are many solar lights that can be put along paths, retaining walls, stairs, and other outdoor areas. They are typically indistinguishable from low-voltage wired lighting but cost far less because there is no need to have an electrician come in.
I added some security lighting without having to pay an electrician by taking advantage of some battery-powered security lights. These lights couldn’t be easier to install, and you can install them just about anywhere. The light is bright enough and serves it’s purpose. Swapping out batteries is pretty easy too.
If you are interested in products like this consider checking out Shop Your Way Rewards. Shop Your Way Rewards is a free program where members can browse, review, and purchase items, create custom wish lists to share with friends and family and enter daily sweepstakes. I signed up for Shop Your Way Rewards a while back and have been impressed by the deals and variety of outdoor living/lifestyle/products that are on the site.
4) Focus on the front yard
As I mentioned earlier, improving your curb appeal is a great way to sell your home faster and potentially attract higher offers. This is why it’s better to focus on the front yard before the backyard. The front yard is where potential buyers form their first impression of a home.
Backyard space is great and can be a selling point, not to mention improve your quality of life as a homeowner, but spending a little on the front yard can go a long way. Consider investing in new landscaping and spending more time on upkeep in the front yard than other outdoor areas of your home.
If you are planning on moving soon you can check out additional tips and resources at the shopyourway.com/moving, where there’s a ton of resources for people planning a move including deals on products and services related to moving. One thing they have that is particularly special to Shop Your Way is a moving adviser service. These advisers can help with any aspect of the moving process. Did I mention it’s free?
5) Focus on one area at a time
When I was recently browsing Angie’s List and reading reviews of a landscaping contractor I was shocked at just how expensive some of the projects were. One couple’s review in particular stood out to me. They owned a small home with a small yard. The yard had been neglected over the years and they paid a contractor to do a total makeover of their yard. The cost? $27,000.
It’s easy to get ahead of yourself and want to upgrade and improve all areas of a yard, but if you’re on a budget it doesn’t make sense to tackle it all at once. Instead, focus on one area or one project at a time. Perhaps this Summer you add some exterior lighting and plant a few shrubs, next Summer you install a patio, and so forth.
Spreading out and delaying work is an underrated way of saving money on renovations and upgrades. The longer you delay a project, the more time you have to save money for the project. You also may eventually decide a project is unnecessary and forgo it altogether. Spreading out work doesn’t mean saying no to everything, but instead it means focusing on one thing at a time.
6) Plant trees and shrubs young
If you’re considering planting trees or shrubs in your outdoor space there is one simple rule to keep in mind: the younger and less mature the plant, the cheaper.
My wife and I plan on eventually planting shrubs in our front and back yard. In our backyard we plan on lining them along our back fence. The houses are relatively close together and we hope to create a natural privacy barrier. What we noticed early on in the research is that the more mature the shrubs the more expensive. If we get a young and less mature shrub we can save money, but we do sacrifice our privacy for a few years. With that being said, when you’re on a budget I think the choice is obvious.
If you really want to save on plants consider getting seeds. Seeds are cheap because they are easy to ship and easy to maintain. The seller has to do virtually no work to keep seeds in their inventory, but mature trees and shrubs require extensive maintenance and care.
7) Small upgrades can make a big difference
Like I said earlier in the post, landscaping and outdoor improvements can run in the tens of thousands of dollars. Even relatively small projects may end up costing in excess of $1,000.
While big projects and changes have their place, small changes can make a big difference. I’ll use our own home as an example. My wife used part of a ladder she received for free and a couple of inexpensive hanging pots to decorate the space near our front door.
Additionally we bought a large barrel-like pot. These purchases and changes were not expensive, but I think it added a lot to our barren front yard.
So don’t rule out the impact that inexpensive purchases and changes can make to your outdoor space. You’d be surprised how far your money can go with a little planning, research, and creativity.
How have you upgraded your outdoor space on a budget? What are your future plans for improving your outdoor space?
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Good tips DC! We’ve done a fair number of these at our house to make it look nicer. We’ve done the large majority of it ourselves to save money, plus just having the satisfaction of getting it done on our own is nice. We do the one area at a time approach as well just to keep things easier and be more effective.
We did a bunch of work on our yard this year. I like to keep things simple, but I did add a bunch of potted flowers and plants. We also stained our deck. It looks nice!
This is very timely as we are planning to add curb appeal to our front yard this summer. Actually, California is having a drought so we need to switch to drought tolerant plants. Right now we’re researching drought tolerant gardens.
It’s really amazing how much of a difference these little things can make (like mulching). There’s some great info related to this same topic at https://marysdiy.wordpress.com/. Tanks for the tips, DC!
I like these relatively easy–and inexpensive–ideas. Really love the hanging pots on the ladder example; makes me feel inspired to get out and do some improving!
FrugalRules We are very focused on the “one area at a time” approach. Otherwise we’d be completely overwhelmed (and likely end up spending way too much money!).
Holly at ClubThrifty Sounds like you really improved your outdoor space! I saw some pics on your facebook and it looks like a great yard. I hope to get a lot of the major stuff done over the next 1-4 years and then it will just be the minor work each Spring/Summer/Fall to keep it looking nice.
yvettedog Great idea! I think people in California and elsewhere will be looking for that drought-resistant landscaping going forward.
Niomi@FinanciallyConfident Thanks for the feedback! My wife will be glad to hear the hanging pots inspired you. She was really excited about the idea and I think it turned out well.
I think that mulching is a great way to improve your outdoor space on a budget. My hubby and I did that with our home in Florida before we sold it and it was amazing how much better the space looked.
We joined the Arbor Day Foundation for $10 a few years back and got 10 free trees. They were really small and came wrapped like delivery flowers. Some of them didn’t take but more than half did. Even if only 2 or 3 make it, you can’t beat that price.
I love beautiful landscaped homes with lots of flowers and greenery but I have to be honest – I don’t particularly enjoy yard work or taking care of flowers. :) So we keep things nice and simple. We take pride in our home and want it to look good, but we also try to keep it relatively low maintenance because neither Chris and I want to spend hours maintaining it every week.
I freeze up every time my wife starts talking to me about our backyard. All I hear is $$$$. I agree though that it’s all about small improvements. Looking back over 2 years that we’ve been in our house, all of the small improvements we’ve made have come together nicely.
blonde_finance Nice! We’ve just about moved all the rocks out of our front yard and we are ready to plant and lay down mulch. Hopefully we can also save by getting some good deals on plants in the late Summer/early Fall.
Eyesonthedollar Wow that’s a great price! There is a specific shrub that I’m looking to get and it’s significantly cheaper if you get young shrubs. I’m looking forward to saving a few hundred dollars taking this approach.
ShannonRyan Good point, Shannon. I’m all for simple landscaping as well. My wife likes flowers a bit more and I’m perfectly fine with us doing some more intense landscaping/planting, as long as she’s the one who will take care of them! Haha
Mark@BareBudgetGuy It’s pretty incredible what some contractors charge for landscaping work. Some of it seems relatively minor but all the expenses add up. Plus people seem to be willing to pay for it, so good for the contractors.
Our yard is giving us conniption fits. Despite multiple sprayings, we’re still getting grass and weeds in spots. And either our neighbors or people in the park call the city. Only our yard, apparently, since our neighbor frequently has as bad a yard as ours. Grrrr…
We’re hoping that next year we can get it covered with rock to decrease the number of weeds that can plant themselves.
AbigailP Ugh that’s terrible that your neighbors call the city. It’s tough to maintain a yard and there really is no reason to “tell on” a neighbor.
Rock is a great idea. Some good landscape fabric should do the trick.
My wife and I always try to find ways to upgrade our yard come spring. It’s pretty shocking how expensive it can be even for simple upgrades. I’ve always gone the DIY route. Even if you don’t have the knowledge or a specific skill set, it’s amazing what you can learn on youtube. I built a large deck and landscaped our yard by using youtube to find informative tutorials. You’ll surprise yourself in what you’re able to accomplish and you’ll learn a lot along the way.
Financial Tour Guide Wow that’s impressive that you built a large deck using Youtube. I plan on outsourcing our deck because it’s so high off the ground, but I do have a massive retaining wall project I’m kicking off in less than 2 weeks.
I agree that your rock mulch is ugly! We recently put in some very nice looking rock mulch. Rock is nice because it will last forever, unlike wood mulch. I have also used some nice rubber mulch made from recycled tires that is supposed to last for 20 years.
PennyPincher1 Yeah it wasn’t rock mulch, it was just rocks. Looks like Keystone or something similar. 20 years?? That’s definitely a long-term solution!
I will warn you about mulch — it blows away! We live in a fairly windy place & found that we were replacing the mulch every year.
houseoftre Interesting, thanks for the tip! So far we haven’t had issues, but we also only have finished about 1/10 of the landscaping so far.