Summer/Outdoor Living
Adding Colour to a Backyard Fence
The advantage of having a wooden fence in the backyard, besides the obvious benefit of privacy, is that it offers a wide canvas to decorate. The problem is, what to hang there.
If you’re like me, you’ve tried the minimalist approach, hanging one thing here and another there. I have found this tactic to be woefully inadequate. I also have the problem of how to make what I hang on the fence really stand out.
I think the answer lies in groupings of three to five colourful items at intervals along the fence. These groupings can be composed of all the same items or related things. Each section might also represent a theme, as you’ll see below.
Dollar stores offer a variety of outdoor hangings. Some of them required an application of spray paint so they’d stand out against my weather-worn fencing.
Let’s see what we can do with dollar store finds to help bring that boring wood fence to life this summer, keeping in mind that bright colours are key.
Insect Invasion
Easy-peasy. Hammer in some nails and hang your decorations using the hooks on the back of them. Use as many of these metal bugs as you like. Three, as here, would be the absolute minimum. A mix of different sizes and colours would also look great.
These whimsical insects are between 12-15-inches wide from wing tip to wing tip. If you’re using smaller decorations, more is better. You could fill an entire length of fence with this kind of thing and it would be sure to make the backyard a more enjoyable and fun space to spend time in.
Watering the Flowers
I found these two large watering can decorations at Dollarama. The bottom halves were brown so I spray-painted them to keep them from blending into the fence. One coat of paint was sufficient to brighten them up, while letting some darker tones show through. I had white paint on hand, but of course, you can use whatever colour suits your fancy.
To round things out, I hung a real watering can from a floral garden hook. After all, there are no rules saying that everything we hang on the fence has to be flat.
These decorations found a place on the fence above the flower garden.
Water Lilies, Sans Water
I know, I know. Water lilies are meant to be floated in the water, but when I saw these bigger ones, my mind went elsewhere. Colour – check. Size – check. The two larger lily pads are 8-inches wide and the three smaller ones are 7-inches wide.
I installed five of these on the fence above the bird bath by hanging them on nails. The green “pad” can be easily pushed over a nail. Be sure to fastened these on securely in a couple of places, because artificial lily pads are very light and a strong gust of wind will carry them away. I speak from experience.
Housing Development
I found some colourful birdhouses at Dollarama and thought they would be a bright addition to a section of the fence near the bird feeders. Use at least three, or as many as you like. This is a housing development, after all.
You will also need:
- A hammer and nails for the fence
- A picture hanging kit
- Needle nose pliers (optional, but recommended)
Remove the original rope hanger from the top of each birdhouse. The eye hooks screw out easily.
I used the saw-tooth picture hangers from the picture hanging kit. I find these little nails difficult to handle, so I used a pair of needle nose pliers to hold them steady while I hammered them into the back of the birdhouses. Saves fingers, too!
Two of the birdhouses ready to hang.
The finished grouping brings a section of fence near the bird feeders some much-needed colour. If you have an artistic bent, dollar stores carry ready-to-paint birdhouses you can customize to your liking. It will be a bit cheaper doing it that way, too.
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When we talk about decorating our backyard fences, there are no hard and fast rules, (at least I don’t think there are!) Think about what would make you happy or perhaps spark conversation at an alfresco gathering.
For example, you could clean and paint some old garden hand tools different colours to hang in a grouping, decorate some light-weight garden trellises to hang or install some weather-proof art around the seating area. Scroll down through https://dollarstorestyle.comsummersolace/ for another idea using melamine plates.
I’d love to know where your imagination takes you. Let me hear from you! marlenealexander2327@gmail.com.
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