It's not ugly Anea, I was the same when I dug a large border at the back, completed it last year and now just starting to see the rewards, mind you it's hard work but fulfilling once you see the fruits of your labour, GOY is a great site for inspiration and any advice you need then there are plenty of friendly experienced gardeners ready to help, good luck.

Section areas off from sight with trellises and taller plants.
This will cover and disguise ugly areas (which a lot of us have).

Most people have straight up and down gardens and are afraid to use up some of the lawn to make different sections/areas but if you try it once you'll never look back.
Steal up to 60% of the grass areas, create large rounds and curves - make them into beds and borders, plant tall plants and hey presto .... you've got an immediately more interesting garden.

Hello Aneagillis194 your garden is far from ugly..but i know what you mean about all those things practical..i currently have a washing line stretching between the old 17th century barn at the front of the courtyard which is totally out of sink with its surroundings but needs must..

im fortunate to have enough room to hide compost bins and the like and dont need a shed given the old buildings around..but i do have an oil tank that for the life of me cant yet figure out how or if to screen it or hide it..

i guess with time your garden will mature and you will 'design' spaces that the practical things will work with..

keep up the work and welcome to GOY

You've obviously got children - your garden doesn't look ugly really, and children have as much right to use the space as anyone else - you need plenty of grass for kids, so don't start taking it away yet. My boys used to ruin the lawn and borders playing football, but I had a large patio for the sand box. I never mind sheds, and I well recall having a long washing line straight down the garden AND a whirligig one. It all passes - most people with stunning, perfect gardens haven't got children living with them... but when yours go, you can have one too if you want. Gives you something to do and think about to take your mind off the empty nest syndrome (I speak from experience, lol) At that point, I'd be thinking about removing the path, taking down the washing line and replacing with a whirligig somewhere useful, re siting the shed further down the garden, creating curvy beds and possibly less lawn - but that's a while away yet I'd imagine.

It's not ugly - it's homely and lived in!!! It's very difficult when you have children to have storage space for all of their stuff. One day they'll no longer be with you and you'll miss them but you'll welcome the tidiness.

I like your garden and think it reflects your busy life as mine did when I lived in Kent and had small children running around it.
It is only after the children are older that parents can really start to garden they way they dream of.
The secret is to enjoy your children while you can they will soon be doing other things and then you can enjoy your garden.
The things like sheds - perhaps we aim our photos away from those areas?
The garden ornaments come for most of us after the nest is empty when there is money to spare .

I totally agree Drc726.
Much as I love my garden now ,I wish sometimes that I still had all the family young again[which would make me nice and young again too LOL ]

And I agree that with children and their needs and wants taking centre stage, your garden is going to look occupied. Who wants a perfect lawn anyway? Now the kids are all grown up we don't have one at all. :-)

I love the look of a straight line full of washing drying in the fresh air - and it's environmentally friendly too.

I also like the look of your garden - the placing of the tree on the right with the little path under it, and the two rounded lawns is lovely. We all have compost bins, sheds, "potting up areas" and so on. I think Drc is right that we aim the camera to miss the utilitarian bits.

Even WITH children and animals there's no reason why you can't have pretty close to the type of garden you'd really like.

Sectioning parts off for specific uses is easy to do and lets the eye focus on your 'nice parts'.

There's no reason at all why you can't do it, if that's what you want - go for it - gardens change all the time so try things out.

I was amazed that you think its ugly. Its interesting, friendly and lived in. Family gardens shouldn't be so special that the kids can't play there. Filing your flower bed with lots of pretty perennials will make all the idifference. How about taking off the straight edge of the lawn a little by curving the end near the line post, or perhaps putting in something ornamental but not delicate that will keep the eye from travelling immediately down the rest of the garden? Something like a clump of day lilies or a medium sized hebe? Like your pussycat!

I hadn't spotted the pussy cat! Lovely :-)

Beauty is in the eye of the beholder. You have a great layout and when you get in all those cottage garden plants you dream of this will look perfect. You have a foundation of well thought out areas, looks like one for the kids at the far end where you can keep an eye on them but they can feel unsupervised and a nice place for the adults to relax at this end. Is that a washing line it looks very high. You have some decent height with your lovely trees, which will instantly give your garden a mature feel when the other planting is done. I DK how old the children are but get them to help by sowing a packet of mixed summer annuals in any space you cannot afford to fill and they will shoot up in next to no time to give them a pride in 'their garden' and hopefully plant the seeds of real gardeners in them. Lidl and Aldi both sell seeds as do places like Wilkinsons, often for as little as 49p. As you say beg, borrow or ----- cuttings and have a go at growing them. One of my favourite plants is a japanese anemone, which many regard as little more than a weed but which no garden is complete without. I was walking along the street one day and a chap was sitting at his front door. He said Hullo and I complimented him on his fine show of flowers. It turned out he hated them as they interfered with his prize winning begonias. Come in and help yourself was the invitation so I did that. Gardeners are so generous. So don't be shy. A lot of my garden is filled with plants given by friends grateful for my interest in gardening. It goes across all social classes and age groups.

I love your enthusiastic post, Scotsgran! :-) Well said!

Thanks Beattie. It is hard when you are new to gardening but you get swept along by the help you get from others.

Its a question of illusion! Put a couple of windowboxes on your shed (front & side), which will catch the eye. Then a pretty non-invasive creeper such as the Black-eyed Susan growing up the pole & also some edging around the flower beds will make a huge difference. Use what you have in the garden (or home), such as old pavers or bricks & even plastic flower pots to create the edges. Take cuttings & plant up the pots around the edges.

Take heart..it's all part of the creative process.