Thinking about landscaping

Right now the bulk of our landscaping is done by our 2 1/2 year old who keeps his John Deere truck and shovel handy to work while we're inspecting the house.

He has focused his efforts on the large sand pile, grooming it as a preschooler would see fit.

On the larger scale, Ashley has been thinking about the landscaping for our yard. Even though designing an outdoor space is part of his profession, Ashley says our house stumps him. We had a breakthrough on Sunday,however, when we decided where we would park our cars. From the very beginning, I've been committed to using our front door to enter our house and using the "pretty" driveway.

A few weeks ago Ashley's mom and I looked at the house and she had an idea to create a parking space for us in the back against our master bathroom . This would cut down on the distance to walk to the house, especially with groceries. I was sold on the idea but Ashley was firmly against it, especially because it would require us going through two doors (the screen door and the back door). And he (and his cousin's wife Kristin) reminded me of my insistence that we use the front door. I want friends and family to enjoy our front porch and use that as the transition to the inside of our house because we don't have a formal foyer. I love a front door that is used!

So Ashley and I debated what to do. Ultimately I saw his point (and remembered my own) so we're going to park in the front to the right of the house. Where Ashley is standing in this picture (below) will be where our cars will park, running parallel to the house. Our visitors will be able to park behind us or in area that we'll use for our backing space. A sidewalk will lead along the front of the house to the front steps.

To help with the distance between the parking area and the front door, we're going to add a second set of (smaller) steps on the side porch area. This will allow us to get in quickly out of the rain and will also make it easier to put wood on the porch for our wood stove.

I'm fine with our visitors using the smaller set of front steps just not the back door (sorry, y'all!). I think this arrangement will be the best of both worlds. If we decide later on that we need to park in the back (say, when we're much older and climbing steps is harder), we can rearrange the landscaping. That's the beauty of being in this business!