By Sharon Cohoon, Sunset senior garden writer
This is what side yards usually look like:
This is what they could look like:
The transformation of this side yard in Calabasas, California was performed by Shirley Bovshow, garden designer, television host, and speaker. She outlines all the steps and and shows a lot more details on this post on her blog, Edenmakers. Take a look. It may inspire you to finally tackle your own side yard.
For more inspiration, also see this stylish example my colleague Julie Chai discovered:
And this clever Mediterranean side yard patio I found:

