Ashley Marie: Backyards and Creative Spaces

I've begun to realize that having a backyard can be pretty valuable and an often overlooked privilege. I've never really given much thought to just how much I enjoy having my own little access to the outdoors until I didn't have it anymore, ringing true to that little saying, "You just don't know what you have until it's gone." It's another space that can serve as a creative outlet, can make for a great place to gather with friends for a BBQ on those random warm Indian summer nights in the city, or roast s'mores around a fire pit during the more frequent colder city nights.

My current apartment is on the top floor of the building, and the only way to access the communal backyard, aside from running out the front door, down two sets of stairs, and around the side yard, is through my roommate's room and down the fire escape. The other issue is we are sharing the small space with 5 other units, of whom have been living here much longer than we have, and they seem to have some major territorial issues. The space itself has a lot of potential. It's mostly paved with a small area for gardening and a nice tree in the centered at the back wall of the pavement, perfect for hanging some tree lanterns or Christmas lights. One of the units actually built some rather large planter boxes to grow vegetables that I would love to contribute to, but seeing as how other sharing hasn't gone over so well in the past I thought it best to just let that idea go.

Today, I came across this link for outdoor DIY projects and two in particular seemed most alluring. The first is Garden Art in which you create a framed mosaic of succulents. It's a very simple DIY and a great way to break up some of the negative space on a wall of fencing. You can also make multiple frames of varying sizes and collage them which may offer an interesting home-y feel. The second DIY is an arrangement of colorful flower pots mounted to a fence wall, a very cute way to bring color from the ground up.

Someday I'll have my own space to decorate as I please. Until then I'll just have to pine over other people's creative spaces, making note of the creative ideas I like most and will someday incorporate into my own space.