Garden Design Project - Part 6 - Rachael Taylor Designs

Garden Design Project – Part 6

I’m so excited to be at the stage within this blog series where I am able to start showing you the progression of my garden renovation with prettier photos & most of all colour! As lovely as the Global Stone & Bradstone landscaping materials are, without colourful plants & styling the garden still felt like a building site & at times looked like a desert.

Initial ideas

Before the garden renovation even began I knew I wanted to try & rescue the old brick wall at the back of the garden & really accessorise it up & inject some personality & colour. I chose to do this with a large shatterproof & garden friendly mirror & a curated collection of colourful bird boxes. Whilst the building was going on, this DIY project that I’d tasked myself kept my spirits up & provided some much needed colour therapy.

Choosing paint colours

I spent so much time time at the Valspar paint desk at our local B&Q & experimented with various tester pots from different paint manufacturers. By far Valspar were the best, the most easy to apply & they offered the widest range of colours for a garden specific mix. The girls at the paint mixing station got to know me well & even set up a file on their system for me so that I can easily re-order any of my choices. I also set up a trade account whilst there as another very helpful member of staff pointed out that I’d qualify being a business owner. So a huge well done to B&Q at Mersey Retail Park I applaud you as it’s so refreshing to find great customer service! I would actually love to spend a day working at Valspar HQ as it’s my kind of heaven. Team Valspar if you need any helpers I’m ready & waiting & I’d also LOVE to get involved in your colour naming process! 🙂

Colour is my thing…

There’s no doubting it & as we progress with our home renovations we are slowly working through the colour spectrum. One key thing for me was to make the interiors connect with the exterior & visa versa. I’m not someone who wants everything perfectly matching but I knew that by creating a seamless flow it would make the garden & our open plan family space work together in a lovely harmony.

Therefore I selected tones & accents similar to some of the colours used in our home, & added a few others into the mix. Whilst I wanted a natural feel to our garden I still wanted to add some retro & funky vibes & fun areas within the space. In my opinion the mix of old & new has really just come together with the design plans & my love for styling. Don’t you just love it when your plan works & your vision becomes a reality?

Styling

I carried through the colourful theme by painting up a selection of old pots as I tried to up-cycle where I could. However, I did buy some new basic terracotta pots that I painted up too. The Valspar garden paint worked great on terracotta & unglazed pots & I didn’t even need to use a primer – I love good old Valspar!

I sourced a specialist shatterproof mirror & painted the untreated timber a cool grey to provide a neutral & soothing tone next to the bird box village I created. I had both our joiner Josh & my hubby Matt help me. I stood back & pointed to where I wanted my little curated collection to go (well bossed them about really, whilst I re-arranged them a couple of times!) A few birdhouses didn’t make the cut. I’d tried to find as many unique shapes as I could but I did leave two unpainted & they arrived really pretty already, such as the natural wood & hexagonal style & the lovely tear drop one.

We hung them after nesting season so I’m hoping I’ll have lots of little visitors next year. Someone even made a joke on Instagram that they look so good that they should be listed on Right Move! I’m actually so proud that I painted the styling accessories myself as it’s nice to know I really got to own that area. It really is GORGEOUS now that the flowers are blooming & climbing high. Stay tuned for further posts & don’t forget to check out my IG feed & #rachaeltaylorgarden tag for various snippets & sneak peeks! I’m planning a little butterfly village near Blayke’s play area next as we both love butterflies so much.