If I was going to advise a person on where they should start from a home improvement standpoint I almost always tell people to begin in their front and backyard. If you are looking for an increase in livability then the backyard is the place to begin. However if you are concerned more with the look of the house in the front yard is the place to start. Regardless of where you start it is important to go into your renovations with a firm plan in mind. We should never walk into any home improvement plan that first drawing up a prospectus on what it will cost you to get it done.
Basically what this means is that you should sit down and think about everything that you want to do with the house, or at least what you want to do with the project at hand. In regards to the yards think carefully about how you want this landscaping to take place. What is the color scheme that you want to have as the predominant feature? What types of plants are you drawn to? What is the overall look and feel that you're trying to create in these yards? What is the purpose of this makeover? How much will these upgrades cost you?
It is important that you can answer these questions before you forge ahead with their plans because they will act as the roadmap telling you how to get from point A to point B. This is important on two fronts. First it is far easy to carry out a home renovation plan when you actually have a real plan in front of you. Second, it is very easy to lose yourself along the way as you're going through these types of renovations. By this I mean that you can get sidetracked very easily and start spending more money than you really should.
When you have a solid plan and place you can use it as a method to keep a check on yourself. You just have to commit yourself to never going off plan. If you have set yourself a $1500 budget for the front yard digging to make sure that you stick to a budget. Obviously the same mentality when applied the backyard. For this reason it is important that the budget estimates you create for yourself or actually realistic. Don't just guess when you are looking at these numbers.
Go out to the stores that you will actually be purchasing the home improvement products from and get a real price for everything. When you finish your prospectus and your build plan you want it to be as accurate as humanly possible to real world numbers.
Now the number one thing I want to leave you with in regard to carrying out home improvement projects around your house is that you should enjoy this process. Do not let it stress you out and do not get bogged down in the details. Embrace it and love it.