SFGate

Norm Walters Construction Inc. Annica, I think you best bet is to find a contractor on here that is in your area to go over your needs. Someone in the States may not even know what can legally be done in Sweden, just a thought.

Manhattta Architecture, P.C. If design is a consideration, you'd probably be better starting with an architect unless you want whatever is on special at Home Depot at the moment.

Norm Walters Construction Inc. @Manhattta, well you put me in my place.

libradesigneye Annika - what a lovely lot, congratulations on your new home. I like the simple lines of this and know your transformation will be successful.

I like the modern soffits around the roof, and can see them covered in natural finished wood planks, or perhaps one of the natural wood look sidings that are more impervious / built for outdoor use. Or just paint them so they are uniform in color all the way around the home.

You seem to have a wonderful opportunities for a conservatory and an existing sheltered terrace already on the back of the home. This will need to be placed in relation to your floor plan. If you have a floor plan you can attach, that would be fun to work with.

Taking out the litte red storage unit is a good idea. My first instinct is to build a larger platform and widen the stairs like levels of decks around the front corner of the home / heading towards the entry door. Someone can build a screen for the meter and paint out the gutter.

If you can build a new garage, or you want to enclose what you have, then you can work out a plan that adds some higher square roof over the gap, brings better prominence to the entry / integrate these elements in a way that perhaps provides you with an entry space in the breezeway now and puts a new entry door into a wrapped glass space here - not for warmth, but for shelter as you enter.

olldroo Annica, you are going to be up for considerable costs here no matter how you do things so I agree with Norm and Manhatta above, call in professionals for ideas and quotes. As Norm said too, you have to consider local ordinances and professionals should be aware of these.

As a preliminary though, I would search Houzz photos for outdoor areas - just type a few keywords into the search and you will be amazed at what comes up. List your needs too according to your likes and lifestyle, pull some ideas together of what you want to achieve and where. Create yourself an ideas book for anything you see you like, this will be of great benefit to a professional to see your style. You may even solve your own problems doing this and be able to carry it out yourself - just be sure to check your ordinances and also check for any buried pipes or cables.

I am very much in favour of breaking gardens down into 'rooms' your pool area would be one for example or a utility area for your washing. That little house is so cute, I'm sure a child somewhere would love it or consider relocating it for garden storage - maybe into your utility area.

You have a very exciting time ahead, good luck with it all.

Annica Edvardsson Thanks for your replies! I've been looking a lot here at Houzz for inspiration and found many pictures I saved! What may be difficult is to put together ideas to fit together.

Sigrid I'd start by thinking about your usage. Do you want a big play area for your kids to play soccer in? Do you want an area to eat outdoors? Do you want a vegetable garden? Do you need more privacy/shade? Define what you want out of your yard. Then play around with shapes on paper. The next move is to define them on the ground. You can do stakes and string or hoses.

If, as someone suggested, you live in Sweden, you're going to want to think about winter interest. I've seen some wonderful gardens in the winter done with colored lights and bare trees making shadows on the snow. Evergreen compositions can be really nice, too.

People talk about garden "rooms." I'd be tempted to build garden beds out from the L on the right in picture 4 and put the trampoline in a "room" behind it. I'd define the room with knee to waist high beds bumped out the L and the fence on the other side.

Annica Edvardsson Hello and thanks for your advice Sigrid! We will not have a trampoline there, it belongs to the previous owner. Our children are adults and should there be any play area is given to the grandchildren come to visit! The idea is to get to places to eat, hang out, take a bath, relax and make the garden more private.

pivoines Hello Annica, Your plans for removing the little red shed is right , The carport/shed is the one element that is disjointed about the house, I agree with you , It needs to change, I would take it out and rebuilt the same height as the house and join it to the house, taking out the lean to, continuing the roof line at the same level, and adding doors to streamline the design and make it look the same as the other side of the house. Also one color for all the roof line and base of garage to unify the look. The landscaping would look better with hardscape on that side, It would definitely be safer for you to hire an architect to make a plan and would be worth the cost to avoid costly mistakes. You might need skylights to brighten that area, if you join it to the house, get a pro. to make a sound plan ,and guide you to find a contractor etc... I think it will look fabulous.