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35 Of The Best Quarantine Backyard Makeovers
We might still be in the middle of the global Covid pandemic, but there are still lots of bright patches where the best of humanity shines through. Don’t get us wrong, the past year and a half has been utterly exhausting, but some people took advantage of the endless lockdowns to work on their personal projects. While some baked bread or took up painting (or wrote short stories about the Alien Apocalypse that was supposed to cap off 2020), others took a more natural approach… and put their green thumbs and DIY skills to work!
There are quite a few members of the Bored Panda team whose idea of a comfy evening means wrapping ourselves in a blanket on our porch or somewhere in our yard. With a good book, a big mug of hot tea, and an eye on the stars, popping up above us, one by one. So we wanted to share our love of cool and cozy backyard projects with you by showing you some of the utterly amazing transformations people did during the recent quarantines.
A lot of people were still working from home until very recently (some still are!), so they had more free time to spend with their families, on their hobbies, and doing various chores they’d been putting off. And, of course, to turn their tired, weed-ridden, overgrown yards, porches, and balconies into something the entire neighborhood could marvel at.
Scroll down to check out some of the most eye-catching quarantine yard before and afters and upvote the ones that you loved the most. In the mood to share your own lockdown projects, whatever they might be? Be sure to drop us a line in the comments. Meanwhile, let’s get digging, shall we? Pass the shovel and the hedge clippers, please!
And be sure to read on for Bored Panda's interview with Dublin-based Stephen, who runs ‘The Powerwash Man’ power washing service and has seen more gardens (a lot of them in rough shape) than many of us put together.
This post may include affiliate links.
#1
Never Had A Backyard In My Life. Took 3 Months Of Covid Quarantine To Pull This Together. Finally Have My Very Own Balcony Oasis In Toronto
RELATED:
#2
I Built A Backyard Treehouse As A Quarantine Project
#3
My Covid Backyard Project. An Especially Cozy Place For My Chickens. My Home Office Is In This Old Garage Looking Into The Chicken Coop
Power washer Stephen, from Ireland, told Bored Panda all about the very worst gardens that his service deals with.
“The worst gardens we deal with are gardens without drainage, as we use quite a lot of water and without drainage floods the whole area,” he explained one of the challenges that he faces.
However, Stephen noted that they’ve overcome this problem by bringing in a new piece of equipment, so it’s no longer much of an issue. There are other challenges that power washers like Stephen face, though. Issues that garden owners can help overcome with a bit of foresight.
#4
My Covid Project. Yard And Paint
#5
Before And After Lockdown Backyard
#6
My Quarantine Project, Before And After
“Other issues we have with gardens are the ones with weeds that haven't been taken care of in a long time,” the power washing expert shared with Bored Panda. “What we do in these situations is we use an eco-friendly weedkiller, let that go to work, then come back a few days later to power wash.”
So if you’re revamping your backyard and you think there’s even a chance of you wanting to get things power washed in the future, make sure to get rid of the weeds and to have some proper drainage, too.
#7
Turned A Nasty Place Into A Cozy Place. Our Lockdown Project
#8
Outdoor Living Room - My Corona Project
#9
A Bit Late To The Party, But Here's My Lockdown Garden Transformation
We were also curious to find out what business has been like for Stephen recently. He shared with Bored Panda that business has been good and sees it as a positive that so many people are working from home.
“For us, it's actually good that most people are at home and we can get to work with them being in the house,” he said.
#10
Since Everyone Seems To Be Posting Their Quarantine Project Before And Afters
#11
My Neglected Backyard Covid Project: After A Lot Of Power Washing And Plant Care It’s Finally Used By Everyone
Mihai Mara 4 years ago
I like this one cause all initial objects are still there but thoroughly cleaned. Looks really nice
#12
My Lockdown Garden Project For The Grandchildren Nearly Complete
When you roll up your sleeves and put in the proper time and effort, your garden will look amazing. In the internet age, we’ve got the wisdom of the entire world at our fingertips, so it’s easy to watch a whole bunch of video tutorials.
However, when it comes to DIY, nothing can trump some friendly advice from your family and neighbors, as well as getting your hands dirty and learning what (not) to do through hard-earned experience.
#13
New Home With A Neglected Garden vs. 3 Months Later With A Lot Of Hard Work
#14
Revamped Entire Backyard During The Quarantine
#15
Before & After Of Our Backyard Quarantine Project. I Will Be Purposely Social Distancing Here Throughout The Summer
In the mood for some more inspiring posts? Have a look through Bored Panda’s previous articles about some of the coolest coronavirus and lockdown projects right here and here. Hopefully, this will inspire you to get creative no matter how difficult life might be.
#16
You Guys Like Driveways? This Was My DIY Covid-19 Project
#17
DIY Backyard Overhaul. 1 Girl, 2 Days, $750, And A Whole Ton Of Ambition
#18
My Husband Transformed Our Backyard With His Own 2 Hands Over 9 Months
Lydia Dean-Melchior 4 years ago
He did a really nice job! Now you can enjoy the fruits of his labor.
#19
My Mom Finally Kicked My Abusive Stepdad Out So I've Had The Chance To Make Some Improvements
#20
My Covid Project. Revamped Backyard
#21
With My Free Time During Quarantine, I Gave My Kids The Backyard I Have Promised For Two Years
I only hired out the trenching for sprinklers, and leveling to final grade.
#22
It Took Us Months Of Quarantine But We Revived The Family Garden
Cheri Aline Sydney 4 years ago
Wishing you much enjoyment and good health! Such a nice way for family to spend time together and enjoy the fruits of their labor!
#23
2020 Lockdown Garden Bar Build
#24
My Quarantine Backyard Project
#25
My Lockdown Backyard Project
#26
My Lockdown Project
#27
My Husband And I DIY’d Our Backyard In Phoenix
#28
Our Quarantine Project Was Screening In And Decorating The Back Porch. Having This To Look Forward To Gets Me Through My Insane Work Days
#29
My Dad’s Retired So He’s Had A Lot Of Time On His Hands Lately. This Is His Quarantine Project
#30
That's Right! It's Another Lockdown Patio Project! I Built A Set Of Benches For Our Small Courtyard Patio
#31
2 Days Of Work, 83 Days Of Waiting For The IKEA Order To Ship: Another Covid Backyard Make-Over
#32
Combination Of 2 Summers Ago And Covid Lockdown. My Backyard
Deck, raised beds, trees, stone patio, arbor, gurgler, pavilion, and lots of aching muscles. I am not a landscaper by trade but rather a soft office man. I will never do this all again myself.
#33
Backyard Quarantine Project
#34
My Uncle's Covid-19 Project
#36
My Garden I’ve Been Working On
Cheri Aline Sydney 4 years ago
Add a friend and some refreshments and you'll be good-to-go!!!! Enjoy!
#37
My Quarantine Project Was Building A Treehouse For My Kids And Integrating An Old Swing Set
#38
Quarantine Project Almost Done, Pretty Happy With It For My First-Time Pond
#39
Covid Put Most Everything To A Halt, But Here’s A Before And After Of What We’ve Been Able To Do Since Purchasing This Foreclosure
Much more to come when we are able to purchase plants again. Hope y’all are staying safe!
Kathryn Baylis 4 years ago
I love seeing dead or dying houses brought back to life. It’s like the sun breaking through dark gray clouds and making things bright again.
#40
Moved Into A New Apartment Before Quarantine Started, Gave Us Some Time To Upgrade Our Side Yard
We built all the planters ourselves and are really excited to try gardening for the first time.
#41
Quarantine Gave Me Time To Finish My Yard Projects
#42
Covid Gave Me Time To Revamp My Backyard, Too
#43
Covid-19 DIY Project
#44
When We Moved In Nearly A Year Ago We Were Calling Our Yard A "Blank Slate". We Are So Proud Of All That We Have Achieved This Season
#45
Our First Ever Landscaping Project Was This Retaining Wall Planter Thingy. Started During Quarantine 2020
Then my wife broke her leg halfway thru and we just got around to finishing up and planted flowers.
#46
I Built A Social (Distancing) Hut During My Lockdown
#47
Before An After Of Our Tiny Backyard Project
#48
Before And After Of My Marathon Of A Backyard Project
#49
Covid Project. First Time Doing Any Landscaping Whatsoever
#50
My Covid-19 Deck Project
#51
Are We Still Showing Lockdown Projects? My Back Garden, Before And After
#52
My Covid Project. I Also Revamped My Backyard
#53
I Decided To Completely Redo Our Backyard During Quarantine And Am Happy To Say A Little Over A Year Later, I Am 99% Done
#54
Quarantine Project
#55
Before And After Of My Quarantine Project. Juniper Be Gone
This is my first home renovation attempt and I sure learned a lot about leveling, measuring and grades. Biggest lesson learned: don’t get rid of your dirt until the project is done!
#56
Before And After. Quarantine Landscaping. Landscaper Wanted $6500 To Do This. Done Under $1000 Grand Total
Kathryn Baylis 4 years ago (edited)
The other $5000 was probably for the landscaper’s time, and salaries for however many of their employees would be needed to help.
#57
A Backyard Renovation
Kathryn Baylis 4 years ago
Unless you end up fighting while doing it because one of you thinks the other isn’t doing it right….
#58
Covid Backyard Transformation. Cheers
#59
Decided To Redo The Backyard, Like Everyone Else
#60
Before And After - Garden Lockdown Project
Kathryn Baylis 4 years ago (edited)
I kinda liked the wall and plants in the before picture better. The wood in the after picture just looks so plain and blah. The original would’ve just needed to be reinforced, tidied up, and given some color, by planting flowers (in temperate zones you can plant flowers that bloom in spring, summer, and autumn—-or even all three—-so you have color nearly year round). The top grassy portion is where I would’ve put the patio area, though I probably would’ve used flagstones or something besides wood.
#61
Finally, My Quarantine Project Is Complete. The Fire Pit Was Already There, I Can’t Take Credit For That. I Don’t Want To See A Wheel Barrow For The Foreseeable Future
#62
My Covid Project Turned Out To Be Quite The Cozy Place
#63
Covid Project. After Doing Bits After Work Corona Gave Me The Chance To Complete It Faster
#64
Front Yard Covid-19 Project, Before And After
#65
This Shade Area In My Garden Needed Remodeling And Corona Gave Me The Time
#66
Quarantine Project, Before And After
#67
Quarantine Boredom Led Me To Clearing Out My Family’s Forgotten Garden Yesterday
#68
My Covid Project. Still Not Completed As I'm Working On The Wall On The Right And Adding Stone Steps Up The Hill. And I Need Trees And Plants
Overall I'm super proud of this one.
#70
Our Quarantine Backyard Project
#72
Who Needs A Holiday Trip When Corona Shows You're Perfect For Gardening. 5 Months In-Between
Marlowe Fitzpatrik 4 years ago
Aw. So many great plants are gone. I like the outcome in general, but there should have been some more plants saved, imo 🙁
#74
11 Months Later, Almost Finished. My Covid Project
Add New Image
What do you think ?
Brian Bennett 4 years ago
All these are amazing projects and beautiful. But one must have hand the money during COVID to do these makeovers, I figure COVID gave them time. We have neither.
Uncommon Boston 4 years ago
Some of these projects were just hard work -- mostly cleaning -- and some were done in just a few days. My favorites were the tiny city gardens.
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Kathryn Baylis 4 years ago (edited)
See all the wonderful and satisfying things people can do when they’re not working 60, 70, 80 hours a week? I think the quarantine and work from home phenomenon of the pandemic is opening our eyes to the fact that all work and no play, just to barely pay the bills, is a very dreary and joyless existence. I hope it leads to a shift toward a shorter workweek—-with NO drop in pay, I mean, come on, management, ffs!—-so we have the time for enjoyable projects like these, and the chance to enjoy them when they’re done. Well, I can dream, can’t I?
Honu 4 years ago
My husband and I are working the same kinds of hours we were working before, but not having the commute has been a tremendous boon. Commuting used to cost us 4 hours a day on average between the two of us, and often added stress and frustration. Plus, working from home allows us to knock out little tasks throughout the day instead of doing all of them when we get home and are tired. I can fold a little laundry, do a little exercise or something while I'm in a meeting. When I was in the office, I sometimes needed to get up and walk around a bit to clear my head when working out a problem. Now I can go tidy something or load the dishwasher while I think. I'm less tired and stressed at the end of the day, with less work left to be done. I sleep better. Our teams have been really productive. And imagine all the carbon emissions we're saving!
Load More Replies...
Brian Bennett 4 years ago
All these are amazing projects and beautiful. But one must have hand the money during COVID to do these makeovers, I figure COVID gave them time. We have neither.
Uncommon Boston 4 years ago
Some of these projects were just hard work -- mostly cleaning -- and some were done in just a few days. My favorites were the tiny city gardens.
Load More Replies... Kathryn Baylis 4 years ago (edited)
See all the wonderful and satisfying things people can do when they’re not working 60, 70, 80 hours a week? I think the quarantine and work from home phenomenon of the pandemic is opening our eyes to the fact that all work and no play, just to barely pay the bills, is a very dreary and joyless existence. I hope it leads to a shift toward a shorter workweek—-with NO drop in pay, I mean, come on, management, ffs!—-so we have the time for enjoyable projects like these, and the chance to enjoy them when they’re done. Well, I can dream, can’t I?
Honu 4 years ago
My husband and I are working the same kinds of hours we were working before, but not having the commute has been a tremendous boon. Commuting used to cost us 4 hours a day on average between the two of us, and often added stress and frustration. Plus, working from home allows us to knock out little tasks throughout the day instead of doing all of them when we get home and are tired. I can fold a little laundry, do a little exercise or something while I'm in a meeting. When I was in the office, I sometimes needed to get up and walk around a bit to clear my head when working out a problem. Now I can go tidy something or load the dishwasher while I think. I'm less tired and stressed at the end of the day, with less work left to be done. I sleep better. Our teams have been really productive. And imagine all the carbon emissions we're saving!
Load More Replies... Related on Bored Panda
