FOX23 learns what you can change in your backyard to add value to your home

TULSA, Okla. — What can you change in your backyard to make it more comfortable and to add value to your home?

FOX23 met with a Broken Arrow outdoor living company for some advice on what steps you might want to take to improve your outdoor space.

Whether you’re starting from scratch, or you have some good bones to work with, experts say there’s a lot of different approaches you can take when it comes to improving your outdoor living areas.

Tyler Funk, owner of Real Okie Outdoor Living, can take a look at any yard and create a new vision.

“Get some color in there, some perennial stuff, so really again low maintenance is the goal, a lot of color, something that’s always going to be in bloom so it stays looking good and then again the screening aspect,” he said.

We visited a home in Broken Arrow that Funk said has good bones, with an already existing pergola and enclosed patio room, but he definitely sees an opportunity to expand upon that.

“A lot of what we do is expanding patios, adding square footage coverage as far as structures, whether that be a pergola or actually tying into the structure,” Funk said.

Funk said the first thing to consider is what you plan to use your outdoor space for.

“It’s just like designing a room inside your house,” he said.

He said some popular options are to create an outdoor kitchen and dining area, an outdoor living area with a TV, or more of a social destination such as seating surrounding a fire pit.

Funk said anytime you can increase covered square footage, it will add to your home’s value.

He said living walls are also increasingly popular to bring more aesthetics.

“Kinda softens up all the hardscape,” he said.

He also highly recommends removing any overgrown features in your yard, and adding some fencing or some type of barrier to make it a little more secluded.

Now all of these changes can be quite expensive. One lower budget option they have is to purchase the design plan, but then do all the improvement work yourself to try to save on costs.

If you’d like more ideas on what you could do in your yard, be sure to check out this weekend’s Home & Garden Expo.

It will be held July 19-21 at The Exchange Center at Expo Square.