We might still be in the middle of the global Covid pandemic, but there are still lots of bright patches where the best of humanity shines through. Don’t get us wrong, the past year and a half has been utterly exhausting, but some people took advantage of the endless lockdowns to work on their personal projects. While some baked bread or took up painting (or wrote short stories about the Alien Apocalypse that was supposed to cap off 2020), others took a more natural approach… and put their green thumbs and DIY skills to work!

There are quite a few members of the Bored Panda team whose idea of a comfy evening means wrapping ourselves in a blanket on our porch or somewhere in our yard. With a good book, a big mug of hot tea, and an eye on the stars, popping up above us, one by one. So we wanted to share our love of cool and cozy backyard projects with you by showing you some of the utterly amazing transformations people did during the recent quarantines.

A lot of people were still working from home until very recently (some still are!), so they had more free time to spend with their families, on their hobbies, and doing various chores they’d been putting off. And, of course, to turn their tired, weed-ridden, overgrown yards, porches, and balconies into something the entire neighborhood could marvel at.

Scroll down to check out some of the most eye-catching quarantine yard before and afters and upvote the ones that you loved the most. In the mood to share your own lockdown projects, whatever they might be? Be sure to drop us a line in the comments. Meanwhile, let’s get digging, shall we? Pass the shovel and the hedge clippers, please!

And be sure to read on for Bored Panda’s interview with Dublin-based Stephen, who runs ‘The Powerwash Man’ power washing service and has seen more gardens (a lot of them in rough shape) than many of us put together.

#1 Never Had A Backyard In My Life. Took 3 Months Of Covid Quarantine To Pull This Together. Finally Have My Very Own Balcony Oasis In Toronto

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#2 I Built A Backyard Treehouse As A Quarantine Project

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#3 Turned A Nasty Place Into A Cozy Place. Our Lockdown Project

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Power washer Stephen, from Ireland, told Bored Panda all about the very worst gardens that his service deals with.

“The worst gardens we deal with are gardens without drainage, as we use quite a lot of water and without drainage floods the whole area,” he explained one of the challenges that he faces.

However, Stephen noted that they’ve overcome this problem by bringing in a new piece of equipment, so it’s no longer much of an issue. There are other challenges that power washers like Stephen face, though. Issues that garden owners can help overcome with a bit of foresight.

#4 My Husband Transformed Our Backyard With His Own 2 Hands Over 9 Months

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#5 Before And After Lockdown Backyard

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#6 Since Everyone Seems To Be Posting Their Quarantine Project Before And Afters

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“Other issues we have with gardens are the ones with weeds that haven’t been taken care of in a long time,” the power washing expert shared with Bored Panda. “What we do in these situations is we use an eco-friendly weedkiller, let that go to work, then come back a few days later to power wash.”

So if you’re revamping your backyard and you think there’s even a chance of you wanting to get things power washed in the future, make sure to get rid of the weeds and to have some proper drainage, too.

#7 My Neglected Backyard Covid Project: After A Lot Of Power Washing And Plant Care It’s Finally Used By Everyone

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#8 My Covid Project. Yard And Paint

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#9 My Covid Project. Revamped Backyard

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We were also curious to find out what business has been like for Stephen recently. He shared with Bored Panda that business has been good and sees it as a positive that so many people are working from home.

“For us, it’s actually good that most people are at home and we can get to work with them being in the house,” he said.

#10 A Bit Late To The Party, But Here’s My Lockdown Garden Transformation

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#11 2020 Lockdown Garden Bar Build

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#12 My Uncle’s Covid-19 Project

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When you roll up your sleeves and put in the proper time and effort, your garden will look amazing. In the internet age, we’ve got the wisdom of the entire world at our fingertips, so it’s easy to watch a whole bunch of video tutorials.

However, when it comes to DIY, nothing can trump some friendly advice from your family and neighbors, as well as getting your hands dirty and learning what (not) to do through hard-earned experience.

#13 DIY Backyard Overhaul. 1 Girl, 2 Days, $750, And A Whole Ton Of Ambition

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#14 My Lockdown Backyard Project

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#15 With My Free Time During Quarantine, I Gave My Kids The Backyard I Have Promised For Two Years

I only hired out the trenching for sprinklers, and leveling to final grade.

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In the mood for some more inspiring posts? Have a look through Bored Panda’s previous articles about some of the coolest coronavirus and lockdown projects right here and here. Hopefully, this will inspire you to get creative no matter how difficult life might be.

#16 My Quarantine Project

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#17 My Husband And I DIY’d Our Backyard In Phoenix

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#18 My Garden I’ve Been Working On

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#19 My Lockdown Garden Project For The Grandchildren Nearly Complete

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#20 It Took Us Months Of Quarantine But We Revived The Family Garden

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#21 Before & After Of Our Backyard Quarantine Project. I Will Be Purposely Social Distancing Here Throughout The Summer

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#22 Our Quarantine Project Was Screening In And Decorating The Back Porch. Having This To Look Forward To Gets Me Through My Insane Work Days

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#23 I Built A Social (Distancing) Hut During My Lockdown

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#24 Covid Gave Me Time To Revamp My Backyard, Too

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#25 Before And After Of My Marathon Of A Backyard Project

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#26 You Guys Like Driveways? This Was My DIY Covid-19 Project

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#27 My Quarantine Backyard Project

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#28 Outdoor Living Room – My Corona Project

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#29 New Home With A Neglected Garden vs. 3 Months Later With A Lot Of Hard Work

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#30 Moved Into A New Apartment Before Quarantine Started, Gave Us Some Time To Upgrade Our Side Yard

We built all the planters ourselves and are really excited to try gardening for the first time.

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#31 Revamped Entire Backyard During The Quarantine

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#32 My Quarantine Project, Before And After

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#33 My Covid Backyard Project. An Especially Cozy Place For My Chickens. My Home Office Is In This Old Garage Looking Into The Chicken Coop

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#34 2 Days Of Work, 83 Days Of Waiting For The IKEA Order To Ship: Another Covid Backyard Make-Over

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#35 Before An After Of Our Tiny Backyard Project

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#36 I Decided To Completely Redo Our Backyard During Quarantine And Am Happy To Say A Little Over A Year Later, I Am 99% Done

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#37 When We Moved In Nearly A Year Ago We Were Calling Our Yard A “Blank Slate”. We Are So Proud Of All That We Have Achieved This Season

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#38 Quarantine Gave Me Time To Finish My Yard Projects

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#39 My Quarantine Project Was Building A Treehouse For My Kids And Integrating An Old Swing Set

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#40 My Mom Finally Kicked My Abusive Stepdad Out So I’ve Had The Chance To Make Some Improvements

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#41 Covid-19 DIY Project

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#42 That’s Right! It’s Another Lockdown Patio Project! I Built A Set Of Benches For Our Small Courtyard Patio

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#43 Covid Project. First Time Doing Any Landscaping Whatsoever

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#44 My Dad’s Retired So He’s Had A Lot Of Time On His Hands Lately. This Is His Quarantine Project

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#45 Backyard Quarantine Project

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#46 Combination Of 2 Summers Ago And Covid Lockdown. My Backyard

Deck, raised beds, trees, stone patio, arbor, gurgler, pavilion, and lots of aching muscles. I am not a landscaper by trade but rather a soft office man. I will never do this all again myself.

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#47 Quarantine Boredom Led Me To Clearing Out My Family’s Forgotten Garden Yesterday

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#48 Before And After. Quarantine Landscaping. Landscaper Wanted $6500 To Do This. Done Under $1000 Grand Total

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#49 Before And After – Garden Lockdown Project

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#50 A Backyard Renovation

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#51 Our First Ever Landscaping Project Was This Retaining Wall Planter Thingy. Started During Quarantine 2020

Then my wife broke her leg halfway thru and we just got around to finishing up and planted flowers.

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#52 Quarantine Project, Before And After

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#53 Covid Backyard Transformation. Cheers

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#54 My Covid-19 Deck Project

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#55 Before And After Of My Quarantine Project. Juniper Be Gone

This is my first home renovation attempt and I sure learned a lot about leveling, measuring and grades. Biggest lesson learned: don’t get rid of your dirt until the project is done!

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#56 Covid Home Improvement Project Is Finally Complete

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#57 Are We Still Showing Lockdown Projects? My Back Garden, Before And After

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#58 My Covid Project. Still Not Completed As I’m Working On The Wall On The Right And Adding Stone Steps Up The Hill. And I Need Trees And Plants

Overall I’m super proud of this one.

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#59 Covid Put Most Everything To A Halt, But Here’s A Before And After Of What We’ve Been Able To Do Since Purchasing This Foreclosure

Much more to come when we are able to purchase plants again. Hope y’all are staying safe!

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#60 Front Yard Covid-19 Project, Before And After

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#61 Covid Project. After Doing Bits After Work Corona Gave Me The Chance To Complete It Faster

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#62 My Covid Project Turned Out To Be Quite The Cozy Place

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#63 My Covid Project. I Also Revamped My Backyard

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#64 This Shade Area In My Garden Needed Remodeling And Corona Gave Me The Time

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#65 Our Quarantine Backyard Project

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#66 Finally, My Quarantine Project Is Complete. The Fire Pit Was Already There, I Can’t Take Credit For That. I Don’t Want To See A Wheel Barrow For The Foreseeable Future

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#67 Quarantine Project

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#68 Quarantine Project Almost Done, Pretty Happy With It For My First-Time Pond

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#69 Decided To Redo The Backyard, Like Everyone Else

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#70 My Lockdown Project

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#71 Before And After For My Quarantine Project

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#72 Backyard Needed A Lockdown Makeover

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#73 Who Needs A Holiday Trip When Corona Shows You’re Perfect For Gardening. 5 Months In-Between

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#74 11 Months Later, Almost Finished. My Covid Project

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Source: boredpanda.com