Help please- how should I redesign this garden?

[Housemove11]

We’ve moved, previously I had a little garden that I adored, it was private (actually felt like a secret garden as it was at the end of lots of very long gardens), sunny, full of plants I loved.

I’ve included a picture of the new garden. I hate the grey decking so would like to replace that with paving I think. Maybe extend the grass over the existing paving as that’s fairly redundant (I think the previous owners built the decking where the sun is).

Plant borders all around the fencing and wall by the house.

I have promised my kids a trampoline but have no idea where it should go!

Paint the big shed so it doesn’t stick out so much and plant in front of it

Is there something obvious I’m missing? I’m feeling slightly overwhelmed by it, I know it’s not a huge garden but so much bigger than I previously had and I feel I could do something nice with it.

Investigate what’s under the decking. It’s usually put over something grotty like broken concrete. It might be costly to gig up and pave.
The trampoline could go at the end and be screened by shrubs, creating your secret area for the future when the trampoline is no longer there.
The lawn could be shaped giving you more flower bed area.

Some basic questions that would help us give advice:
What’s your budget?

Which way is North?

How much work are you prepared to do?
How much time do you have for maintenance?
Do you want/need to keep the big shed?
Are there any good plants you want to keep that are too big to be moved?
Are the fences in good repair or will your budget have to cover repair or replacement?
Drawing a scale plan of the space is the first place to start and marking on the sun/shade is the first thing.
Interlocking shapes works well as a design start. If you want a trampoline, how about interlocking circles (assuming it’s a round trampoline) so that when the trampoline eventually goes, you have a basic design that still works. That’s if you can afford to change the layout.

If it’s safe for trampolines to go on decking I would put it at the end after painting and get some troughs with trellis across as some sort of screening. It is not solid so you can keep an eye on dc but will break it up. I would invest in a couple of small trees, nothing too huge but as you had a private garden lack of screening now is probably the worst thing for you.

how old are the kids? some friends of ours sunk their trampoline in the lawn (used the earth for raised beds) and it looks much better. So if yours will still get 10 years of use out of the trampoline, that might be good.

consider putting in a small tree, maybe against the back wall? It will give a sense of privacy. Rowan & crabapple are both good.

don't do everything at once - live with the space and try things out a bit.