Build An Outdoor Privacy Screen

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A man’s home is his castle. If the lack of privacy in the backyard of your “castle” makes you feel like you are living in a fishbowl, then it’s time you made some plans to provide some aesthetically-pleasing privacy screening for your humble abode.

The best way to do that is with an outdoor privacy screen structure of one type or another.

I’ve got some free privacy screen plans and some cool ideas to help you in your decision-making process.

Before you begin making plans for your privacy screen you should find out if there are any local ordinances or neighborhood covenants that would prevent you from building the privacy screening of your choosing.

You should also consider the view that your neighbors will have once you have completed your project. There’s no sense in ruffling any feathers. You never know when you’ll have to borrow a cup of sugar and a few eggs.

Privacy Screen Ideas

Here are a few ideas of what you can do to create more privacy:

• Construct a lattice fence.
• Build a custom privacy structure that matches the architecture of your home. This could be constructed of wood, brick or stone.
• Construct a privacy fence.
• Build high walls with a material of your choice and soften them up with vines and vertical hedges.
• Install panels of  “curtains” made of weather-resistant fabric.
• Build an overhead pergola and attach a wire-mesh screening to the vertical portion and plant some foliage around it to soften it up.
• Hang a wall of salvaged windows. You could paint some of the window panes, create faux stained glass or etch them to give an interesting effect, night or day, while still providing privacy. Point a light on them for a dramatic effect at night.

How To Etch Glass
How To Make a Faux Stained Glass Window

This is the view from inside of the privacy screen that you saw in the photo at the top of the page. It makes a huge difference.

• Build a trellis with larger openings and install some of the openings with glass blocks.
• Build a flowing, curved trellis with an attached pergola.
• Install opaque acrylic panels. Buy clear acrylic panels and rough up one side with an orbital sander to make them opaque.
• Integrate a gazebo into your deck with screens and plant some shrubs with a vertical growth habit.
• Install some Asian-inspired panels made of opaque acrylic panels rather than rice paper.
• Plant a nice row of fast-growing hedges or trees. Leyland cypress trees comes to mind. I’ve got a dozen of them on my west-facing property line to hide the neighbors driveway and large RV trailer. I planted them about 10 years ago and they are about 40-50 feet in height now. The foliage is spectacular and they also serve to slow the predominately westerly winds across our property.

This is the emergency power generator behind a privacy screen. The photo on the right shows what you’d see when you walk by it. This was built for the 2007 Renewed American Home in Orlando.

Go to Better Homes & Garden’s Remodeling Center for photos of some of the privacy screen choices that I’ve described above.

DIY Outdoor Privacy Screen Ideas

• How To Dig Holes For Fence Posts
• Latticed Privacy Screen Tutorial
• How To Make A Walk-Thru Trellis
• How to Build a Patio Privacy Screen
• DIY Cedar Privacy Screen
• Lattice-Topped Fence Tutorial
• How To Build A Fully-Louvered Fence
• DIY Patio Privacy Screen Instructions
• Grillwork Screen Vine Pole

Randy

I started as a home-stalker… visiting brand new homes under construction in the neighborhoods near my house. That inspired me to write about home building and home renovation projects — chronicling homes during different phases of construction from a consumer's point-of-view. Basically, the tips you'll find in my articles are a collection of checklists for what I think should (and should not) go into building or remodeling a quality home.