Inspiration needed for small ugly courtyard-pic

[IamwhoIsayIam]

We’ve got a small 190cm x 350cm ‘courtyard’ which is trapped within the house. Our garden goes round the outside but with numerous odd extensions through the years it’s created a weird space that is overlooked by a bedroom, dining room and has french windows from the lounge. It’s an eye sore of drain pipes but it doesn’t smell and can be quite sunny mid to late afternoon. Pots are the obvious answer but I think taller plants would be nice too to obscure the pipes. Traditionally English style would be fitting with the house and every green ish as it’s seen all year round. Any suggestions ? Can it ever be somewhere that might be nice to sit?!

This is what first came to mind. A nice outdoor chair. Maybe rattan, seagrass type colour with a nice cushion. A little glass side table to put a book, drink on next to the chair and a pot with a trellis going up potentially one day obscuring the pipes. Failing that a few pots with tall- growing plants would be lovely. And a lovely outdoor garden rug to tie it all together and cover the manhole. 😁

Nice! Great thinking for furniture. Especially the rug to cover a manhole. It definitely detracts from ambience!

What about pebbles or shingle so that you avoid that mossiness you might get from rain? Lots of drainpipe planters or a living plant wall?

evergreen clematis in a very big pot to grow up the pipes.

also a few big pots with holly fern (evergreen & looks good all year) and some big bright rudbekia for the summer.

if it is near your kitchen, i'd plant lots of herbs (sage / rosemary / thyme) both for scent and so you can grab fresh herbs for cooking as needed.

Great wall for the background!

Good quality AstroTurf and some big potted plants with chairs and table.

Or some decking. At least paint the concrete with weatherproof stone paint. Comes in a few colours.

Some sort of planter that covers the drain but still allows water to flow in
id give the concrete a good scrub and put some trellis up

Give that floor a good scrub and it will look instantly better.

Alexandra Stedman (The Frugality) had something similar, although I wouldn't paint your nice stone walls

https://the-frugality.com/quick-courtyard-diy-side-alley-masonry-paint/

I’d fill it with foliage!

How about this

There's a lady in a garden FB group I follow who has the most delightful tiny courtyard garden. Here are a couple of her pics. She has some stuff in trellis planters and also lots of pots that she can change up or move round. It's so inspiring! You could definitely get a tall trellis planter in front of those pipes, and a mix of colourful flowers in pots for your sunny areas and things like hostas for the shady bits. And could you put gravel down on the ground at all, or a combination of decking to go over some of the space to cover that manhole if it's not practical to put gravel on it, and then gravel on whatever space doesn't have decking on it? I think your space could look really nice.

Don't gravel - it's a pain with a manhole. With enough plants up the walls, and perhaps a bit of furniture, you won't really notice the ground.

You can get planters that clip onto drainpipes. They tend to be small, and therefore dry out quickly, but can be useful for awkward bits that a trellis won't fit over. Use plenty of water retaining gel mixed in with the compost.

Lots of good ideas already given. I’d be tempted to use Mediterranean tiles to brighten the floor.