Build the backyard of your dreams

By Matt Weafer
For the Messenger-Inquirer Home and Garden Show catalogue

The new trend is backyard living.

At the Home and Garden Show this year, several booths will be dedicated to creating an outdoor living space complete with sofas, refrigerators, fireplaces, grills and swimming pools.

A backyard is a haven from traffic, work and weekly routines. Kicking back on an easy Sunday afternoon, under the warm sun with a cool breeze on your face is the perfect reprieve from a busy week.

But now backyards are transforming from just a rusty charcoal grill with a few lawn chairs to an outdoor living space with a stone floor, fireplace, refrigerator, canopy and outdoor couches as comfortable as indoor couches but with weather-proof fabric.

Christopher Thompson, president of operations with Integrity Nursery, said, “Outdoor kitchens have been a real big thing.”

Integrity Nursery will devote their entire booth to outdoor living as a result of the shift in the industry.

“Within the display we’ll be showing off a neat pergola defined as an outdoor room,” Thompson said.

In that outdoor room, Integrity will feature new furniture lines “that look very indoor — they’re definitely an indoor style — but as outdoor furniture,” Thompson said.

Integrity will also display outdoor custom fireplaces.

“They are out of the box fireplaces,” Thompson said. “We want to show our ability in custom fireplaces.”

Thompson said Integrity’s emphasis at the show this year will be the company’s ability to customize an outdoor space into the perfect backyard.

“The display will really show you what you can do in defining a space outside and creating a livable space or room,” Thompson said.

Integrity recently opened a store in Evansville and between the two locations, Thompson said, he has more than 100 sets of outdoor furniture.

“And one thing that does set us apart as well is we have very professional, talented . . . designers with education and experience with the whole landscape of an outdoor living space,” he said.

For Henderson-based Tri-State Landscaping, the Home and Garden Show is a chance to display a range of opportunities for outdoor living.

Owner Adam Farley said the family-owned business has grown since he and his younger brother mowed 20 yards a year at ages 11 and six, respectively.

Now, Tri-State Landscaping covers customers in Henderson, Madisonville, Evansville, Owensboro and more.

At the Home and Garden Show, the family-owned business will detail the many options it offers, from small jobs such as trimming hedges and mulching flower beds to big jobs, such as full outdoor kitchens with in-ground swimming pool, fence and deck.

Tri-State Landscaping will share the booth with some associates, including an architect to help design the landscaping of the full outdoor living rooms and a fence and deck company, Jonathon Dixon with Fence Pros.

While Tri-State Landscaping offers an array of options for outdoor living spaces, Farley and his family work with other contractors to provide the full package, not just the furniture and flower beds, but the deck and swimming pool as well.

Tri-State Landscaping will display retaining walls, man-made stone as well as natural stone, columns, lighting, fire pits, grills and greenery.

The company will also offer giveaways and promotions to start work on a customer’s dream backyard, and they will be grilling shish kabobs.

Reprinted with permission from the Messenger-Inquirer.