Profile: Backyard Retreats

Creating perfect backyard and outdoor spaces

By Liesel Schmidt

Over the past decade, the trend of outdoor living has grown by leaps and bounds, seeing a marked increase since COVID. Rather than empty, underutilized spaces, people are taking advantage of their backyards and creating outdoor spaces as well-kitted as the indoors, complete with kitchens, furniture and entertainment.

Twenty-eight years ago when Backyard Retreat was founded by Sharon Campbell, the company built a reputation as a local source for beautiful outdoor furniture and décor in the Charleston area, offering clients everything they needed to create the backyards of their dreams. Now in the hands of Campbell’s daughter Darla Miller, Backyard Retreats continues to provide high-quality products from a wide variety of manufacturers as well as expert exterior design services.

Boasting 25 years of experience selling outdoor furniture, Miller is an exterior designer whose passion for her work shows in her leadership of the company.

“I love helping clients create their own backyard retreat,” says Miller, who credits her parents for instilling a passion for the industry. “When I graduated college 25 years ago, I started working for my mom, and helping her over the years and learning from her expertise has helped me become the exterior design expert I am today. I really do love our industry, and when you love what you do, it’s fun to come to work.”

She adds, “Selling outdoor furniture is really a fun job, but more than that, I enjoy creating relationships with my customers and seeing their porches and patios become places of comfort and relaxation.”

To set the company apart, Miller purposely tries to show furniture on the floor that can’t be found online or at competing businesses. Miller is particularly proud of a few recent commercial outdoor design projects.

“I’m not afraid of color,” says the designer of her own aesthetic. “When you’re working with an outside porch and pool area, it's fun to be a little different, and we love working with unique projects. Whomever the client and whatever their vision, however, we listen and bring those ideas to life as best as we can. Interior designers know the inside of the home, but my whole life has been devoted to the casual furniture industry. If you need help with your outdoor spaces, we are your place.”   

Backyard Retreats

554 Johnnie Dodds Blvd., Mount Pleasant

843-856-0049
Monday-Friday: 10-5
Saturday: 10-4

Closed Sunday

backyardretreatssc.com