If you've been considering changing you're
home’s landscaping, don't forget to consider your
family's lifestyle as you create your initial
plans. Everyone's routines and daily activities
need to be considered before you make any
significant changes.
For instance, if you put a flowerbed or shrub
in the middle of your backyard, will that hinder
your children from playing various games? You want
to encourage your kids to play at home and to
invite their friends to join them, so it's
important not to do anything that will adversely
affect the space where they usually play.
Another example would be planting a shrub along a
route that someone in the family likes to walk on
a regular basis. It can be something as simple as
the route to the mailbox, or something as
elaborate as a path that someone likes to walk
every afternoon to commune with nature. Either
way, planting something that alters their
enjoyment of that simple routine wouldn't be a
good idea.
You may also want to consider what adding a
particular landscaping element would do to enhance
your family's living experience. Would adding a
hot tub to a proposed new deck be something the
family would use enough to justify its expense, or
would it be enough just to add the deck and use it
for barbecuing and getting together with friends?
You might also think about future additions to the
family when making your landscaping plans. For
example, even though your own children have grown
up and moved out of the house, you might think
about adding a sandbox to your landscaping
project, so your grandchildren will have a place
to play when they visit over the weekend.
As you think about what you might like to
incorporate into your new landscaping project,
it's a good idea to start keeping a folder where
you can stuff pictures or ideas. You might also
want to keep a journal, jotting down ideas of
possible additions that come to you from time to
time. When you finally sit down to create your
formal plan, you can dig these out, and you may be
surprised at some of the things that caught your
imagination as you mulled over your landscaping
project.
Regardless of what you finally decide to include
in your landscape remodeling project, it's
important that everyone in the household be
considered. It's their home, too, and they have
the right to be given the maximum amount of
opportunity to enjoy it.
Enjoy your design plan
daydreams as much as you enjoy your private park!
Copyright © 2006 Jeanette J. Fisher
Jeanette Fisher, author of interior design,
real estate, and credit books teaches five ways to
makeover your home and office for happiness and
productivity. Free Design Psychology information:
Design Psychology
Permission granted to publish this article as
long as the bio remains intact with a live link to
http://www.designpsych.com
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Jeanette Joy Fisher