I will admit, we are VERY fortunate to live here in Southern California and it's not a lie, the weather is nice 90% of the year. This means, our outdoor spaces are often times just as important as our indoor spaces. Our home is considered a zero-lot-line home. Not familiar? Basically our property is separated from our neighbor's, literally, by the one side wall of their house.  Sounds like an eye-sore- YES it is!!! There is 50ft beast of siding right outside our side door and it's not even in the same color as our house. 

Okay so there is one eye-sore, but we LOVE the rest of our house and especially our backyard. The previous owners planned it out just right and we have a wonderful outdoor fireplace, a built in bbq; honestly a perfect layout for entertaining and relaxing. We spend hours enjoying the sun, sipping wine by the fireplace or even keeping up our garden at the back of the house…but that side yard…it was completely lack luster.  I tried everything in the book to help and I pride myself on design challenges, (especially the "work with what you have” ones) but designing this space was a nightmare.  It is a designated outdoor dining space, but in the last 3.5 years we have lived here, it has had maybe a handful of dinners… all of which I was preoccupied with brainstorming on how fix the awkward space. By all accounts, this has been (or was) deemed our dead zone.

We are not the only ones. I am pretty sure everyone's home has a dead zone. You know that space in the house no one seems to go. Sometimes it’s because it doesn’t have a real purpose or it’s extra space you really don’t need (a luxury if you have a home is SoCal). However, more often than not, and perhaps unbeknownst to you, the real problem with your hexed space is actually phycological. 

When you find a space that is really uncomfortable, most likely something is seriously violating a basic principle or element of design. In my case all of the elements were in breach.  Believe it or not, those artsy types in your life that make things beautiful are actually, knowingly or not, following a rule book. If the rules of good design are not followed, your psyche will tell you to get out- it's just too uncomfortable! For our space, every single one of these Elements were in violation and something had to be done! 

Here are the "Elements of Interior Design." (Before the planter)  

Take a look at my list of violations.

1. Balance (The tall wall dwarfed our dining area)

2. Emphasis (All that was emphasized was 50ft of siding)

3. Contrast (The wall color is almost the same hue as our gray house but the neighbors house is more of a brown)

4. Rhythm (As of now, there is nothing in repeat except siding… wow!)

5. Scale and Proportion (Even with an umbrella up, the scale is just all wrong)

6. Harmony and Unity (Don't even get me started)

7. Details (Does siding have a means to show detail?- I suppose termites could help that out but not the direction I want to go)

Okay so you get the point, this was a serious problem and I was determined to find a solution.  I will admit, in a perfect world, I would have invested in hardscape planters with tall trees but I had a $500 budget for this entire space and that meant I would be the one building it and planting it.  

Overall, I am really happy with how it turned out.  I still need to add in a drip system; all in good time.  This planter, visually breaks up the gigantic wall and I like how the plants will drape downward from the top two tiers (as they grow).  This will also help your eye travel down to our intimate dining space.  I added market lights as well which will add just another element of ambiance and keep things visually low.   So did I solve all of my challenges regarding good design? Here are my attempts to following the rules.

Here are the "Elements of Interior Design." (After the planter)  

Take a look at my list of fixes.

1. Balance (the mass of this entire planter, in proximity of both my house and my neighbors created more balance)

2. Emphasis (Instead of siding, you now are looking at something more natural and beautiful and the emphasis was visually brought down into the dining space rather than up between our homes)

3. Contrast (The plants of wood structure break up the monotony of two giant walls of siding creating contrast)

4. Rhythm (I used repetition on the position of each planter both vertically and horizontally)

5. Scale and Proportion (The height and width of the new planter, along with the market lights, adds enough visual weight to help ground the whole space and keeps the scale and proportion in tact)

6. Harmony and Unity (Using a mix of textures, colors and materials, we achieved more harmony in the space)

7. Details (Certainly we need to add in a few more layers but the mixture of plants certainly was a start)

Do you have a dead zone? Why pay rent or a mortgage for a space that does not serve it’s purpose? Right? I will never be able to completely solve this design challenge (like cutting off half of the neighbors house) but I can certainly remedy quite a few of the issues. We have already used that space quite a bit since building this planter and I’d imagine as the plants fill in more, it will make the space even that more inviting. Next up, add in a drip system, some candles, more plants throughout the space and a new market umbrella (one with the cute tassels or fringe). It’s a process! Thank goodness for me, it’s a labor of love though.