community yard tour: emily bowser
Community Yard Tour
Special guest: Emily Bowser @emilybowser
taking a blank concrete canvas to a cozy backyard hideaway: curating a welcoming space that draws you to the outdoors
Here at Veradek Outdoor, we seek to provide helpful outdoor living information and inspiration to our DIY-minded community. We've discovered that we never have to look far to find that the best inspiration, and that's why we love featuring amazing creations that come from all of you! See how Emily Bowser took her concrete canvas and turned the cozy dial up to 10 while maximizing space and taking full advantage of the beautiful LA weather.
Can you describe your backyard before the transformation?
To call this area a “yard” would be very generous. This outdoor space is almost completely covered in concrete, save for a few small holes for trees to poke out of and a weird corner where our tenant’s dog uses the bathroom. On top of the lack of greenery, the fence butts up against four different neighbor’s backyards. One neighbor in particular has an unsightly roof line.
What was the reason for your transformation?
I wanted to add value to the back house. In Los Angeles, you don’t get a lot of square footage for your buck but we are fortunate to have great weather most of the year so the idea of outdoor space being wasted was terrible to me.
Products Featured (top): Veradek's Quadra Privacy Screen in Corten Steel
Product Featured (bottom): Veradek's Corten Span Planter
When planning your space, what were some of the main considerations?
Covering up unpleasant views and adding greenery so that people wanted to spend time out there were my main considerations. Veradek had the perfect solutions with their privacy screens and extra large planters that can handle large, mature plants.
What are some of your favourite details about
Veradek Outdoor's Corten Steel products?
The corten steel is absolutely beautiful, we’ve really been enjoying watching it change from its raw state to its rusted state with the weather. The quality is amazing, both the planters and the privacy screens are heavy duty - they aren’t going anywhere no matter how hard the wind blows.
If you had to use 3 words to describe the style
of your transformation, what would they be?
3 words that always describe anything I style at home are: functional, cozy, welcoming. Because of the limited space, everything I invest in has to be functional. Comfort is a must for obvious reasons, if it's not - what’s the point? I want others to feel relaxed in any space I create, like they were considered from word go.
Can you share 1 pro tip for designing an outdoor space?
Always pay for irrigation. It doesn't have to be fancy, we have a hose bibb irrigation system for one of the planters. There’s nothing worse than wasting money on buying new plants every few months which is wasteful but also you never end up with the look you’re going for if the plants keep dying and never mature.
Oh gosh, I’m going to age myself, but my go to playlist for outdoor hangs with friends always starts with (anything by) Tribe Called Quest because of the chill but happy vibes.
What are some of your favourite elements?
The thing that made the space strange to begin with, the segmented areas and odd shapes, is actually what I ended up loving. Now it feels like each space is a room, there’s an intimate seating nook, a dining room and a living room. The fact that the areas are slightly separated makes each feel cozier.
Product Featured: Veradek's Quadra Privacy Screen in Corten Steel
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