East Austin · Full buildout

The Backyard Collective

An open-plan living room with a caramel velvet sectional beneath three desert and horse prints, a rattan coffee table, and the kitchen island with wooden stools behind

NeighborhoodEast Austin

ScopeFull buildout

GuestsSleeps 14

Two units, front and back, bought together and empty. Fourteen guests across both, on a budget that meant every decision had to earn its place.

The kitchen was the interior priority. It was opened up and an island added, which sorted seating and storage in one move and made the house work for a group rather than for four people taking turns. In the bedrooms the walls stayed mostly bare by choice, so accent paint and wall art did the work instead.

But the house is called the Backyard Collective, and the backyard is why.

An above-ground pool with a deck built around it, a pergola over a dining table big enough for everyone, bartop seating, turf, games, a grill, and a television outside. The house is built around it.

The house

13 photographs

A kitchen with sage green cabinets and brass pulls, open wooden shelves, and the end of the island in the foreground

Two twin beds with green quilted pillows and plaid throws against a terracotta accent wall, with a ribbed green nightstand between them

A bedroom with an arched green velvet headboard against a green wall, a curved wooden desk, a blue swivel chair and two prints of women in cowboy hats

A bedroom with a brown accent wall, a cane headboard, a wavy wall sconce and a horse print

A bedroom with a red velvet bed, a mustard knit throw, a patterned rug and two windows onto the trees

The backyard at dusk under string lights: a pergola over a dining table and grill on the turf, with the pool deck and orange loungers beyond

A long dining table with black and yellow chairs under the pergola, with a ping-pong table on the turf beyond

The above-ground pool at dusk with a deck built around it, bar stools along its edge, orange loungers under umbrellas and a TV mounted on the house

An arched doorway framing a dining table with rattan chairs and a bench, with a grey kitchen through a second arch

A kitchen with grey cabinets, glass-front uppers and a subway tile backsplash, beside an arched doorway and a green yarn wall hanging

A bedroom with a slatted oak headboard beneath two bold red artworks, one covered in painted eyes

Two beds with red velvet pillows and faux fur bolsters beneath framed photographs of cowboys on horseback

A living room seen from the red front door: a blue sofa beneath two fashion prints, a mustard velvet armchair, orange poufs, and an arch through to the dining table

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