When we moved in to our new home last winter, we were delighted with pretty much everything about it except for one thing…the outside space.
We had the same issue in our last home – no real garden space – just a small yard.
The yard space in this house is at least a lot bigger than it was in our last house – there’s a patio area outside the walk-in cellar which is big enough for a BBQ and a patio dining set, and then there is a concrete space which is basically the top of our garage fenced in to make a little yard.
We had Tyne’s sandpit and play house out here, and he used it often as he loves being outdoors but we wanted to make it more appealing to sit out in – the sea view out there is so lovely it would be such a waste not to use it, and during the summer months the yard offers a perfect view for the many fireworks displays on the pier and the red arrows displays – so we wanted to make it somewhere we’d want to sit and enjoy those things as a family.
This is how the outdoor space looked before….
Very plain, as you can see – not particularly appealing.
We decided to do what we’d done in our last yard, which was to buy artificial grass to cover the concrete area and make it seem more “garden” like.
We added in some potted plants, planted some flowers in the beds, and added a potted palm tree to give some colour and life to the area.
With these additions along with some beautiful seating, I think it’s quite a transformation considering it took less than 40 minutes to achieve!

The outdoor seating is the Hartman Bentley Alexandra Duet Seat from Hayes Garden World and I think it is just gorgeous.
Woven furniture has always appealed to me as it gives the look and feel of indoor comfort whereas garden furniture can so often be quite uninviting and even uncomfortable.
The duet seat is very comfortable, the cushions are machine washable and the chairs & table themselves are of course weather proof – they’re quite heavy so I don’t need to worry about them being blown around as the garden is quite high up and on the seafront so lighter furniture may well be a worry.
The chairs and table, although they nest together perfectly, are actually all separate so you can position them as you wish and move them around if you’re trying to avoid direct sunlight whilst sitting out in the garden.
The Duet Seat is currently reduced from £349.99 to £279.99 to and is available HERE
We also picked up a ice cube cool box which is ideal with children as Tyne’s juice cup can be popped inside while he’s playing and kept nice & cool for him, and out of the way of any bugs – this also matches the loveseat very well and will be lovely when we have some outdoor BBQ’s for keeping the wine chilled!
This is available from Wayfair priced at £91.99

Tyne also has some new treats in the garden, including this brand new sandpit from Wickey.
The sandpit is a real step up from his last one at almost twice the size – it has so much room for playing and would easily fit 3 or 4 children comfortably, whereas Tyne’s previous one would struggle to give room for two.
What I love about this is the little bench seats which are so sweet and so practical, and they fold down to cover the sandpit when not in use – our previous one merely had a canvas cover which constantly blew off and it ended up becoming a litter tray for the annoying neighbourhood cats on more than one occasion – NOT pleasant to find cat dirt in your childs sandpit because the cover blew away in the night! So hopefully this sandpit won’t fall victim to the cats!
Jon put this together and I must admit, it did take him a while but that probably wasn’t helped by Tyne insisting on “helping” Daddy!
I can’t wait to buy more fun outdoor toys for Tyne as he gets older such as climbing frames and swing sets! I think a paddling pool is next on the list though.
I’m really pleased with our new garden space and looking forward to enjoying it over the rest of the summer!


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