Exterior Makeover

Design the garden in a real estate photo

Turn a tired garden into a designed one — planting, a terrace, a pool, a pergola, lighting — composed as one scheme, in one style, sized to the plot. The house, the driveway, the neighbours and the sky stay exactly as shot. 1 credit a photo.

Design a garden See pricing

1 credit per photo · Plans from $5.99/wk

An ordinary back garden behind a brick semi — old concrete slabs, a worn patchy lawn, fence panels, a shed and a rotary washing line under a grey sky — and the same garden after Exterior Makeover: pale porcelain paving with a dining table, a slim plunge pool, a pergola deck with two loungers where the shed stood, deep planted beds along both fences and warm bed lighting, with the house wall, the door, the fences, the neighbours' roofs and the sky exactly as they were — before

BeforeDesigned

What this does

One garden, one scheme

Everything in one run

Planting, a patio with dining, a deck with loungers, a pool, a pergola, a fire pit, a fence and gate, garden lighting. Tick any number, or none — it composes whatever you choose into one garden and sizes each element to the plot, so a narrow garden gets a plunge pool, not a resort.

Six styles, or matched to the house

Modern minimal, Mediterranean, classic English, natural low-water, tropical resort, farmhouse. Auto reads the house's materials and the climate in the photo and picks the one that suits. One style is what makes the result look designed rather than assembled.

Full makeover, or add to what's there

Full makeover redesigns the whole yard. Add to my garden keeps the lawn and paving you have and builds the chosen elements into them. Either way the house, its roof, the driveway, the neighbours and the sky come back untouched.

Say it in your own words

An optional line beside the presets — "lavender everywhere, and a small kidney-shaped pool" — steers the design the way a note to a landscaper would. Anything that is not about the garden is ignored.

How it works

Three choices, about a minute.

01
Upload the exterior
Open Exterior Makeover and drop in the photo — a back garden, a front lot, a terrace, a courtyard. Interiors are refused and not charged.
02
Pick a style
One of six, each shown on the same garden so you can see what the word means. Or leave it on Auto and let the house decide.
03
Choose what to include, and how much
Tick the elements you want or leave them all off for a complete design. Then Full makeover or Add to my garden. Add a line in your own words if you like.
04
Download
The designed photo lands in your library beside the original, ready for the listing.

Before you upload

Which photos work best

Works best

Back gardens, front lots, terraces and courtyards, photographed at eye level from the house or the street.
Tired but honest plots: worn lawns, bare fences, empty paving. The bigger the gap, the better the before/after.
Daylight photos where the ground and the boundaries are visible, so the design can be sized to the plot.

Avoid

Interiors. They are refused and you are not charged; for rooms, use Virtual Staging or Restyle.
Photos where the garden is a sliver behind the house — there is nothing to design.

Stays the same

The house, its roof, the driveway, the neighbours and the sky stay. Only the garden is designed.

Examples

The same garden, three ways

Two more styles on the garden above, and a front lot as a full makeover. In every pair the house, the fences, the neighbours and the sky are the pixels of the original — only the garden is designed.

Classic English · the same garden with a lawn, box-edged beds of roses and perennials, a paved seating area and a slim pool at the far end — before — Classic English · the same garden with a lawn, box-edged beds of roses and perennials, a paved seating area and a slim pool at the far end

Classic English · the same garden with a lawn, box-edged beds of roses and perennials, a paved seating area and a slim pool at the far end — after — Classic English · the same garden with a lawn, box-edged beds of roses and perennials, a paved seating area and a slim pool at the far end

Mediterranean · the same garden with a pergola dining terrace, a pool, gravel, lavender and olives in pots, the fences greened over — before — Mediterranean · the same garden with a pergola dining terrace, a pool, gravel, lavender and olives in pots, the fences greened over

Mediterranean · the same garden with a pergola dining terrace, a pool, gravel, lavender and olives in pots, the fences greened over — after — Mediterranean · the same garden with a pergola dining terrace, a pool, gravel, lavender and olives in pots, the fences greened over

Front lot · Full makeover — the block paving and the flat lawn replaced by porcelain slabs with basalt bands, a corten planter of grasses, hydrangea and alliums along the house, a gravel garden with three birches and boulders, a water rill beside the walkway and a lit low wall at the street; the house, the neighbours and the sky untouched — before — Front lot · Full makeover — the block paving and the flat lawn replaced by porcelain slabs with basalt bands, a corten planter of grasses, hydrangea and alliums along the house, a gravel garden with three birches and boulders, a water rill beside the walkway and a lit low wall at the street; the house, the neighbours and the sky untouched

Exterior Makeover FAQ

What can it add to a garden?

Planting (beds, hedges, a feature tree), a patio with a dining set, a deck with loungers or a low sofa, a pool, a pergola, a fire pit, a fence and gate, and garden lighting. Any number of them in one run; leave them all unticked and it designs what the plot wants.

Will it change the house?

No. The house, its roof, doors and windows, the driveway, the neighbouring buildings and the sky are locked. Only the garden is designed, at the ground's level and in the photo's own perspective.

What if I tick everything?

It fits everything to the plot's real size and lets elements share space — a dining terrace can edge the deck, lighting lives inside the beds. Nothing is dropped; a tight plot gets the smallest honest version of each thing.

What is the difference from Exterior Touch-up and Lawn Replacement?

Those fix what is there: a natural sky, healthy grass, the bins gone. Exterior Makeover designs something new. If the photo also needs fixing, touch it up first, then design the garden on the result.

Can I describe what I want?

Yes. There is a short optional line beside the presets. Write it the way you would tell a landscaper. It steers the design alongside the style you picked, and anything in it that is not about the garden is ignored.

Do I have to tell buyers the garden was designed?

Yes. A designed garden shows what the plot could become, not the property as it stands today, so label the photo the way you would label a staged one. Rules differ by market — check yours.

Related exterior tools

Fix the photo first, then design the garden on the result.

Exterior Touch-upSky, lawn, driveway and clutter fixed in one pass before you design.Lawn ReplacementHealthy green grass where you want to keep the lawn as it is.Sky ReplacementA natural sky for the photo, with the reflections updated.

Show the garden it could be, before anyone digs.

Upload the photo, pick a style, choose what to include. 1 credit a run.