Planning Your Backyard Pergola Makeover: A Guide for Someone in Need of a Fresh Outdoor Start

Some people like a simple, flat, grassy lawn. But for a lot of us, the plain green yard is more of a blank canvas, an image of potential aching to be realized. This post is for anyone looking to give their backyard a complete makeover.

If you’re in this boat, we hope you'll enjoy our breakdown of two different patio makeovers with pergola installations. We'll be sharing what goes into the pergola design and patio project, and share some tips we've learned along the way over years of working in home landscaping.

Backyard Makeover 1

The first backyard makeover we'll be looking at is in sunny Virginia. This homeowner was looking to undertake a project to bring his backyard to the next level.

He wanted something comfortable that would extend the living space of his house, something that would be good for fun, lounging, and usable in both the summer and colder months. And he wanted his patio covered to provide shade from that harsh Virginia heat.

Assessing Your Outdoor Living Space

Before diving into your backyard makeover, take a moment to understand your backyard.

Walk around your yard and observe the areas that receive the most sunlight, shade, and wind. Pay attention to the slope and drainage, or other unique qualities of your yard. Depending on how your yard is set up, these factors can significantly impact your design choices.

Think about how you'd like to use your patio. Whether it’s a relaxing retreat, an entertainment hub, or a functional outdoor cooking and dining area. In this example, the homeowners have a relatively flat and standard yard (as seen in the "before" picture above). They wanted to put a covered patio right outside their backdoor that could be used for grilling, dining, as well as a comfortable seating area for hanging out.

Defining Your Outdoor Living Style (and choosing the right Outdoor Furniture)

There are a lot of patio styles out there - clean and modern, simple and homely, natural and rustic, or maximalist and colorful. Look through any home and garden magazine or patio inspiration Instagram page, and you'll see the endless possibilities and combinations that can achieved with different styles and textures.

So before you go out and buy new outdoor furniture, make sure you've locked in on exactly what style and aesthetic you're going for. If you're conscious and careful, you can a design a backyard makeover that not only meets your needs, but also enhances your home’s curb appeal.

Laying the Foundation for Your Backyard Makeover

Now that you've got the design on paper, it's time to start building it!

Framing out the patio is the first step. When doing this, doublecheck your measurements before clearing for the build. Not just that it's the space you want, but that everything will fit there. Make sure you leave room for walkways and moving between furniture while it's being used!

Note: Usually it's better to build any structures before you put down pavers (at least where you're installing the base/posts). Ninety nine percent of the time, it's better to cut the pavers around the posts.

After you have the patio installed, sometimes it's useful to test out your layouts before you set up any larger builds like a pergola or other outdoor structure (see above image). This will help you to finalize the plan before you lock in exactly where the shade structure will be.

Once you lock in a setup, now remove everything to prepare for any larger structure builds. In the above photo, you can see the now clear patio with the post bases getting installed.

Once the construction is done, you can move the furniture back in and enjoy your awesome new outdoor living space!

Choosing the Perfect Backyard Pergola

Let's take moment to talk about the pergola (we're a pergola manufacturer, it has to be done).

First of all, what is a pergola? A pergola is a beautiful outdoor structure that offers shade, shelter, and ventilation. They have a distinct look from the roof slats, which are what make a pergola a pergola.

Traditional pergolas have static slats, which are bolted in and stationary. These are usually made form wood, but are sometimes made form metal or vinyl. Modern pergolas often have a louvered roof, so that the slats can open and close, letting you choose between sun and shade.

For the patio in this example, the homeowners chose The Luxury Pergola for their backyard makeover for a few reasons:

• The sturdy aluminum structure is engineered to commercial specifications, so it can withstand harsh climates and weather (which is why we back it with a lifetime warranty).

• It's DIY, so it's easy and fast to assemble compared to other commercial grade pergolas.

• The louvers are motorized ands remote control - so they can be opened and closed with the touch of a button.

• We offer custom sizes, so they were able to fit it to their space exactly how they wanted to.

Filling out the Outdoor Living Space

Now that all the big pieces are in, it's time to finish out the space with accessories, decorations, and all the other final touches that make a backyard living area complete. In this project, the pergola acts as sort of anchor between the backyard and the house. The covered area creates a sort of "outdoor room", which can create a nice transition between your indoor and outdoor living areas.

In this patio setup, there's an outdoor kitchen with a grill and a reasonably sized dining area for having family or friends over. Having everything set up like a room means that it can easily be decorated for events and entertaining, like the Halloween party pictured above. The fire pit in the sitting area helps to make the pergola comfortable, even in cooler months.

This last step should always be a work in progress. Over the years, you should try to find new little areas in your backyard space to put your unique fingerprint on, always making it feel more and more like home.

Backyard Makeover 2

The next backyard makeover/pergola project we'll be looking at is a Luxury Pergola customer in California.

Preparing the Space

In this pergola installation project, the homeowners were tearing down an old wooden pergola to install a new aluminum one that will last and won't require constant maintenance. So the first step was to clear everything away and prepare the site for the new pergola installation.

Once everything is torn down and the concrete footers for the pergola are poured, it's time to get started on rebuilding everything with as brand new look!

Budget-Friendly Backyard Makeover Ideas

A DIY pergola kit or pre-made pergola is much more affordable than a custom install from a dealer while still allowing for personalization. With the Luxury Pergola, there are a variety of styles and completely custom sizes - so you can get something that fits your budget without sacrificing quality.

For larger projects, if you're not particularly handy, it might be worth hiring a general contractor to help with the more complicated work. If you're not sure, remember: It's ultimately more expensive to do something twice, then to do it right.

Super pergola - Fitting to the Outdoor Space

We've seen a lot of outdoor spaces in our day, and they all end up being unique. That's part of why we created the super pergola: by attaching multiple pergolas together, you can create a multi-bay pergola that is specially designed to fit your space.

In this case, the homeowners are using a two bay pergola to create a nice shady spot in their backyard along the entire back of their house. And unlike their old wood pergola, this one has motorized louvers, so they can choose between sun and shade and control the ventilation of each individual bay. So they can have full shade in one bay, and full sun/breeze in the other bay.

They plan on setting up a couple of dining areas under their pergola, so that they can entertain a lot of guests for comfortable and fun outdoor dinners.

Final Touches

It's the finishing touches that take the space from being simply functional and eye pleasing to being unique and showstopping. Art, lights, flowers, plants, creature comforts - all the little details come together into something special and unique.

Once the furniture and the decor were set up, this project was completed with some string lights and a couple of fans added to the accessory beams on the pergola bays.

Conclusion

We hope these writeups help inspire you to design and create the backyard of your dreams! If you're and if you're in the market for pergolas, don't hesitate to contact us to learn about what makes the Luxury Pergola a step above the rest.