Backyard M(adn)ess

This is the first home project I'm blogging since Miles was born. We are so excited about our backyard potential.

We have plans to turn our lower level of the backyard into an outdoor living room. We started looking towards the end of August at furniture knowing that there would be some great prices for end-of-summer outdoor furniture. We looked around a bit at Target, Lowe's, Home Depot etc but most of what we saw was over $1,000 which was more than we really wanted to spend. Then came Mr. Craig and his lovely lovely list. 

We were the first ones to email about it (we happened to look 20 minutes after it was posted). After some back and forth emails and a truck rental it was ours. We feel so lucky and fortunate that this amazing piece of furniture is now ours. It's 9' x 6' and will fit our space perfectly. It's in great shape aside from some sun wear but we love the color and know the quality is excellent. We also have a fire pit that we'll use in place of the ottoman. 

Now comes the tough part. 

Here are some "before" shots of the backyard:

And some "during/in progress" photos. I'll admit that I'm not a very good gardener (maybe for lack of trying) but I'm really freakin' good at what I can ungardening. I pulled up those plants/bushes in about two hours. Hacked, shoveled, ripped...and I was so proud of myself. The last thing in our way was the Japanese maple. 

 

 

We decided that we really did want to salvage it and replant it higher up in the backyard. Matt did some research and then started digging. 

We'll see how long it lasts but so far it's doing great. Now onto the rest of the project. Drainage rock, weed cloth, sand, paver stones and then grass or clover in between. Also some tree stakes to use for string lights. Can't wait to show more progress photos and also the finished product! Hoping to get it up next weekend so we can use the space for a little while before the rain starts. 

Any suggestions on how to do the patio part? Have you done a backyard project recently? Would love to hear from you!

Comments

[Ana]

Oooh, exciting! Can't wait to see the results :)