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Blashaw's Best
Landscapes We <3
Matt Blashaw’s Best Backyard Transformations 38 Photos
Licensed contractor Matt Blashaw has elevated weekend DIY to an art form on Yard Crashers. Have a look at the blank (or, in some cases, cluttered and overgrown) canvases he’s encountered over the years—and the al fresco masterpieces they become.
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MEET THE HOST
Matt Blashaw
This licensed contractor honed his handyman skills while working at his father's lumberyard through college.
About the show
Episodes
See Episode GuideCountry French
This empty lot, filled with chunks of broken concrete, gets a Country French makeover. First the huge yard becomes private with the installation of a 6 ft fence and 2 additional feet of lattice. Three destination hard scapes are created. One has a fire feature. A new redwood bridge connects the other two spaces. The bridge crosses a custom built waterfall and stream. Unique raised redwood planter boxes are built and planted with organic vegetables.
Balinese Tropical Paradise
A loud, neglected yard gets transformed into a peaceful tropical getaway. A custom waterfall drowns out noise from the frequently passing train. Beyond the waterfall, a unique concrete pathway takes you to a seating area with custom curved benches, hand made concrete tables and a one of a kind fire feature. The pathway continues to a bar made of inlaid carved wood. The entire yard is chalk full of lush tropical plants.
Cabo Daybed
This homeowner's wasted mud space gets a Cabo style facelift with a pine timber pergola and redwood hanging bed. A decorative boardwalk deck and bar seating, plus a bronze fire table with comfortable resin patio furniture. A large farm wood dining table with seating for a large family and a beautiful Brazilian hardwood outdoor kitchen. Outlining it all are lush tropical palms and plants.
Outdoor Racing Room
Matt finds Charlotte, North Carolina's biggest stock car fans and turns their boring back yard into an entertaining space inspired by their love of racing. Floor mats are laid out in a checkerboard pattern for the patio and an outdoor kitchen is added with a custom tool-chest barbecue along with a bar with a racetrack inspired concrete countertop. A step up to the winner's circle paver patio reveals a concrete "tire" fire pit, race car seating, water fall and curved arbor. Finally, privacy plants are added along with sod to complete the ultimate race car fan party pad.
Old World Stone Wall Patio
A couple of first-time homeowners are confused by the shape of their oblong backyard, until Matt Blashaw offers to help them add new dimension and features to the oddly shaped space. Taking a cue from their love of archery and wine, Matt designs an Old World style yard, with cobble pathways and DIY 'stone' walls they shape from moldable concrete. A giant stone fireplace with a cozy hearth highlights a welcoming seating area on a new patio shaded by giant umbrella planters. Matt and his crew show the homeowners even more ways to mold concrete into a 'stone' water fountain, and a footbridge that is shaped and stained to look like natural wood. Carpentry projects include a DIY archery wall, wine barrel bar, and a dining table with a twist: a heavy-duty tabletop featuring a stone Lazy Susan.
Barn Meets Backyard
This couple's small yard desperately needs Matt's help. Their dogs have taken it over & the space has become a dumping ground. Matt clears everything out then builds a raised deck off the back door with a barn inspired metal privacy screen complete with planted horse troughs, stairs down to a concrete patio with shade structure and space for a barbecue, dining area and kegorator. These motorcycle enthusiasts also receive a one of a kind water feature. Finally, a separate deck ramp & dog run are added to separate the pets from the people.
Beachy Outdoor Kitchen
Eric and Cristin Botsford have a large back yard but there's nothing in it. They dream of a beachy escape that reflects their love of the ocean and Chris delivers! He gives Cristin a big concrete patio for their outdoor kitchen, complete with new grill and prep space, that is wrapped in cedar planks and topped with concrete pavers. Nearby, he adds a custom wood plank table that is covered with a bright shade sail. Chris upcycles Eric's home-made bench into a bar and tops it with a cantilevered pergola. He also gives Eric an outdoor shower with privacy walls made from shutters. In the center of the space he includes a low bowl water feature surrounded by grass and lush landscaping.
Old World Hideaway
Chris Lambton and his team transform a blank slate backyard into a private old world outdoor living space. His builds include a massive redwood deck with a wooden lattice privacy screen surrounding the sides and a beautiful stone fireplace as the focal point of the yard. A custom made bamboo and metal dining table is constructed with matching redwood benches. The yard also includes a lush lawn and a spectrum of colorful plants throughout the space.
New Orleans Crawfish Boil Courtyard
Taz and Gumbo are native New Orleanians who like to party and eat with their friends and family. They have a large yard but it's uninviting, overgrown and ugly. Chris looks to the quintessential New Orleans courtyard for inspiration and transforms their space into the perfect place for crawfish boils. He starts with a large brick colored paver patio and adds a cedar pergola with iron posts. He creates a fire pit area and builds a custom crawfish table with a grill island, a bar, and dual crawfish burners. He surrounds the patio with lush tropical plants and adds a sugar kettle water feature. Finally, he turns salvaged shutters into a unique gate.
Rustic Party Gras
These busy New Orleans couples desperately need the saints to march in their backyard. Chris Lambton and his team deliver the party with a one-of-a-kind shrimp boat party bar, an outdoor kitchen galley with copper countertops and a dining area fit for the saints. A new bamboo reed fence surrounds the yard for privacy. A dry streambed with custom metal catfish jumping out of it and colorful native plants surround the yard.
Urban Putting Green Yard
Chris Lambton and his crew turn a neglected, overgrown yard into an urban putting green with a redwood deck, a custom prep counter, charcoal stone pathways and a rustic water feature.
Rustic Edible Yard
These novice farmers are overwhelmed with their expansive blank slate of a yard until Matt comes to their rescue. He helps transform the big, boring space into a rustic relaxing area complete with outdoor prep island with copper countertop, large water feature with bridge, and a cozy stone faced fireplace. Matt adds more seating with rustic wood seat walls and gives them extra living space with a new concrete patio. Finally, the space gets a green landscape with all edible plants including fruit trees, grape vines and plenty of herbs.
Industrial-Modern in the OC
Back in his hometown of Orange County, California, Matt finds a couple of new homeowners who have been renovating the inside of their fixer-upper and neglecting their backyard space. Matt brings in his gang of workers and they transform the small space into an industrial-modern retreat with different "rooms," including an inviting dining area, barbecue island, gabion water feature, galvanized fire pit and custom-made lounge chairs. Then, he tops off this backyard overhaul with a vertical garden of succulents, new sod and lush landscaping.
Contemporary Shade Yard
Katie and Ian have a boring yard that is so uninviting they never even think to use it. But Chris promises that he can turn it into an entertaining mecca! He starts with demoing the existing patio and replacing it with sleek concrete slabs. He adds a custom concrete bench and fire feature conversation area and artificial turf, plus plenty of drought tolerant plants. A big new barbecue is dropped into a one-of-a-kind prep space with white metal countertops. DIY pendants hang over a metal floating bar and a metal and wood dining table is also included. All this entertaining space is topped off with shade sails and a cantilevered arbor with perforated metal to provide plenty of shade.
Spanish Courtyard
With the help of Chris and his team, this blank slate of a backyard gets a colorful old world courtyard. The center point of this yard focuses on a pop of color with unique metal art accent panels, a large redwood pergola, a brand new concrete patio, custom pub bar table with wooden glass rack, and a relaxing lounge couch. Two Spanish style masonry planters balance the yard with mature trees and plants around the yard.
Pacific Coast Rustic Loggia
A desperate yard gets a complete transformation including a new paver patio, an oversized metal fire pit with seating, and a massive reclaimed covered, three-sided loggia loaded with a flat screen television, kegorator and custom storage cabinet. Brand new composite deck steps, colorful container plants, a recycling stone water feature, a modern style cable wire handrail system and colorful plants with lush sod top the yard off.
Nautical Cape Cod
Chris crashes his neck of the woods when he ambushes in Cape Cod and finds Christine & her boyfriend Chris, whose large yard and upper deck are both completely plain. Chris adds a large built in deck planter box for the flowers that Christine loves and adds a built in barbecue, grill prep area and wood plank bar, along with a dining table. The ugly deck spindles are replaced with nautical rope, and down below Chris adds a large flagstone patio with stone fire pit and four Adirondack chairs. In addition, a white pergola is added, along with a raised stone cutting garden. Finally the empty space under the deck is turned into an outdoor work out area.
Eclectic Cottage
Holly and her roommate CK live in an adorable cottage-style home, but unfortunately their backyard doesn't have any of the same charm. Holly wants a space for entertaining friends but wants it to reflect her eclectic and colorful style. Chris comes up with a design to do both, he adds a gigantic concrete patio that gets surrounded with colorful metal planters full of large trees and a variety of flowers. He then adds a large outdoor kitchen, faced in glass mosaic tile and topped with a funky concrete countertop, along with a large fireplace/water feature combo that acts as the yard's focal point. He includes custom light posts, an oversized dining table and a relaxation area complete with artificial turf and a hammock.
Hillside Party Hot Tub
Chris Lambton and his team transform this wasteland of a backyard into a hillside party pad. His features include beautiful wooden stairs leading up to a redwood upper deck, retaining seat wall, and a bubbling hot tub. It also includes a lower patio area with stained concrete, a custom chaise lounge chair, resin outdoor furniture, and colorful potted plants. A decorative horizontal fence with hanging herb gardens alongside a massive stainless steel grill for outdoor cooking finish it off.
The Tan, Chill and Grill Yard
Chris Lambton takes on a big blank slate of a backyard to give a party-loving couple the perfect outdoor living space. Three distinct patio spaces emerge starting with an elevated redwood tanning deck framed with a decorative curb. Center stage, the guys pour an oversized concrete pad that's popped with a circular boulder fire pit, wine inspired bench swings, and a stunning sheer descent water feature backed with glitzy copper. The last patio is the outdoor kitchen that boasts a stacked stone island with BBQ grill, copper countertop with aged patina, a mosaic pub style table, and a vertical herb and veggie garden lush with seasonal plants.
Fireman's Party Bar
Chris Lambton and his crew transform this boring backyard into a beautiful party station, which includes a metal pipe fire feature, a repurposed keg water feature and two redwood decks. A massive reclaimed bar with a granite countertop and a concrete patio with decorative rock inlay, lattice screens for both privacy and greenscaping, crushed rock pathways and patios, all surrounded by colorful plantings.
Lower Lounge at Blog Cabin
Chris and his team head to Blog Cabin 2016 to transform an unused area under the stilted house into a lower lounge that capitalizes on the gulf view. He builds a wood and metal pub table, then adds a fish cleaning island, living privacy wall and a modern fire table.
Charleston Low Country Escape
Cory and Lauren's low-lying yard is rotting, so they beg Chris for the ultimate outdoor living room where they can entertain their friends and family in low country style. He and his team create a huge outdoor kitchen and bar with a new smoker, a custom dining table, a hanging daybed and a raised patio with a lounging area.
West Coast Party Pad
Chris Lambton and his crew crash a boring, neglected yard and transform it into a West Coast party pad complete with a massive metal bar, redwood pergola, boardwalk deck and a rustic metal fire bowl.
Urban Wine Barrel Bar
Chris Lambton and his crew transform a dilapidated yard into a massive outdoor room, including an oversized bamboo deck, a custom bar made from wine barrels and a living wall full of colorful plants.
Urban Putting Green Yard
Chris Lambton and his crew turn a neglected, overgrown yard into an urban putting green with a redwood deck, a custom prep counter, charcoal stone pathways and a rustic water feature.
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