It’s possible that just the thought of talking about that abstract concept of ‘space’, or giving a project ‘enough room’ (as in how big should we build the new deck?) could make a person zone out.
You realize you need some amount of space/square footage/area for an outdoor project, but how do you know you will have enough?
We know this isn’t the most interesting topic in the world, but it’s really important to a successful project no matter how large or small, so bear with us, and we’ll try not to make it so dull that you decide to stop reading and go do laundry…or mow the lawn.
A picture is worth a thousands, as the saying goes, so maybe an example will help make this ‘space thing’ less abstract. But first, let us preface this by saying that we feel homeowners should do what makes them happy when it comes to the home improvement projects they do, and how they want them to look. The happiness meter is important. These are just our thoughts on the space that projects need, and sometimes it’s difficult to judge space outdoors (it’s easier indoors, the spaces are created by the walls).
The Driveway is a Space, Too
We noticed a fence installation done by a company that buys and renovates houses and then sells them – they call that a ‘flip’. That’s what was happening here. The new fence was built along part of the side yard, and the back yard.
The tree looks like it is right behind the fence, but it is actually way back along side the garage. The gate is at the end of the fence and faces the street. It blends in so much with the fence that it is hard to find, but you can see the latch on the corner post.
We couldn’t help but notice how close to the driveway the fence was built, and in regard to space, we thought it’s going to be a tight squeeze for the driver getting in and out of the car without hitting the fence, especially when two cars are in the driveway. It might be as tight as the parking spaces at the mall!
The existing tree in the above photo is the one hidden behind the garage.
A great space doesn’t have to be spacious – it just has to be large enough so that everything you want to put in it fits comfortably, including things like cars in the driveway, outdoor furniture on the patio or deck, a grill, and, people – moving people, sitting people, and more people.
An Alternative Design
Hopefully you’re still reading! We didn’t want to end this topic of space without doing a sketch of what we thought would be a solution to this scenario, that would give the area some breathing room. In this sketch, we moved the fence along the driveway back a bit, relocated the gate to make it handier and included a path, and put in some landscape plants.
We think these are some of the benefits of this solution:
- The driveway would have some breathing room when getting in and out of the car
- An area would be created for landscape plants to accent the face of the fence and add a lot of charm and curb appeal to the driveway area
- Protect the fence from getting hit by the car doors and vice versa
- Relocating the gate creates a more convenient access into the backyard
- With the fence moved back, it actually can give the back yard more privacy because the landscape bed acts as a buffer area to the driveway
We hope we didn’t make this ‘space thing’ too dull!
