Bachelor Pad to Newlywed-Ready

Before

Julie Mink is giving her fiance, Rich Schiffman, a home remodel for a wedding present. Designer Kathyjean Boise and landscape designer Adam Smith comes up with a plan to bring balance and vitality to the home. The pink stucco goes green for an inviting look, and the scraggly landscape gets cleaned up with Asian-inspired landscaping that includes new rocks and colorful plants. Other features include custom-made wood boxes and decorative accents.

After

Here's how they accomplish it:

• Trim down the overgrown hedge in the front yard
  
• Remove part of the driveway to make room for planting beds
  
• Take out the metal porch railings and replace with wood ones
  
• Build new wood planter box, and a box to enclose the garden hose
  
• New trellis for the side of the porch, with Jasmine planted beside the house that'll grow up over the trellis for shade
  
• Warm green paint for the body of the house and fence, cream trim, and a darker green accent color goes on the porch floor
  
• Install a brand new garage door with recessed panels and windows
  
• Remove the old rocks and lay down new grey river rocks for a low maintenance and drought tolerant landscape.
  
• New plants: bluegrass, lavender, yellow daisies, and yellow poppies for the planter
  
• Put in a new stone path on the side of the house
  
• Decorative details: Wicker chairs & table for the front porch, new wood blinds on the front window, handpainted ceramic pots and a mezuzah for the front porch, and a homemade cedar-stuffed dog bed