THE PRETTY AFTER

So sorry to leave you hanging on Friday with all of those ugly before pictures.

Bad blogger!  

As promised, I have some pretty after pictures for you.  

My favorite part of the whole project was, of course, making it look pretty.

Here you go!  I'll start with the porch.....

Even though we only extended the porch by approximately four feet, 

it made the whole space feel so much larger.

It also gave us enough space to add a small table with chairs to the porch.

Until it recently got bitterly cold, this was the perfect spot to eat breakfast and read the paper.

With the extra space, we were also able to add two chairs to the seating area.

The brick walls around the porch were replaced with white wood rails.

And new Timbertech steps were added.

Just off the porch is a new paver patio.  

Sure beats the old, ugly concrete pad that used to cover the backyard.

There are two levels of the patio.  

At the top is a table.

New sod was added along with trees that will eventually provide privacy.

The bottom level of the patio is where the fireplace will go.

Right now, we just have some chairs around our old fire pit. 

Once the fireplace is built, it too will provide some privacy.

This was the plan we started with.

Other than a few changes with landscaping, we stayed pretty true to the original plan.

We are very thankful for this space.   

I'm already looking forward to some warmer temperatures to we can get out there and enjoy it.

Thank you for following along during this project.

There were definitely some bumps along the way, 

but this was a long time coming and we are so happy to have it all finished.

Have a great week.

Count your blessings and be thankful!

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Between Naps on the Porch

A PEEK AT THE BACK PORCH

The long and dirty process of our backyard makeover has finally come to an end. 

Can I get an ALLELUIA!

I know I've been teasing you with promises of pictures.  

I plan to take pictures of the entire space this week and will give you more details then, 

but here are a few peeks at the new back porch ....

We added a large table on the paver patio, so we moved our old patio table onto the new deck. 

The table is an old black metal table that I covered with a table cloth and the chairs came from Ikea.

We have shared many meals at this table already.

These fun chairs came from Lowe's, the pillows are from Etsy and the rug is from Dash and Albert.

The light came from Lamps.com.  More on that tomorrow. 

We already had the sectional, but I added a few new pillows. 

The terra cotta pillow was a Frontgate Outlet bargain.

The blue pillows were made from napkins I found at Target.

We've been toying with the idea of painting the brick on our house. 

We wanted the porch to feel like a separate room, so we had the brick on the on the porch painted.

I really love the color (BM Kingsport Gray). We got a bid to have the entire house painted and

it wasn't as bad as we thought it would be.  Maybe in the Spring. 

The weather lately has been amazing - nice and sunny during the day and cooler at night.

We have been taking full advantage of it by eating dinner on the porch.

(My little guy is gearing up to play football next year, 

so he's been wearing his big brother's pads and helmet around the house - oh and to dinner).

I'll take some pictures of the patio later this week, 

but here's a shot of the herringbone pattern.

We are so glad to have this project behind us.

Also, feeling very grateful that we are now able to share this space with our family and friends 

(and the pictures with you guys).

Thanks for being patient with me!

LANDSCAPING PROGRESS

Our backyard was once a big giant disaster.  Over the last year, we have made many changes.

We live in an area where big backyards are hard to come by, especially big flat backyards.

Our yard is not flat by any means, but we have worked hard to make the best of what we have.

The top of our backyard is fairly flat and that is where the BIG transformation just happened.  

It's 95% finished and I promise to show you some pictures soon.

The second level of our yard is what we began working on last fall.

First we tackled a few of the terraces.

This past May, a dear friend of mine helped me landscape another big terraced area of the yard.

It now looks like this.....

  It used to look like this.....

We basically ignored the area for about three years.

I had a plan done by a talented local landscape designer.  

I took the plan to a nursery and bought all the plants.

My friend and I spent about 10 hours planting, laying the brick border 

and pea gravel and finally mulching.

I won't lie.  It was hard back breaking work, but we were so proud of ourselves once it was finished. 

I love that the plan included some beautiful Nikko hydrangeas. 

The plan also called for a few upright junipers 

that will hopefully take off and offer some great privacy some day.

This area has seen quite a bit of action the last few months. 

Especially since the top part of our yard was completely unusable. 

The outdoor fireplace for the top of the yard is the last piece the puzzle.  It will go in sometime this fall. 

We envision this area being a hang out spot for our kids and their friends, 

while the adults gather around the outdoor fireplace.

As luck would have it, this spot is just below where the outdoor fireplace will go.  

It will be the perfect set up to eavesdrop on their conversations.

Of course, they might be thinking the same thing. 

I wouldn't necessarily consider myself a gardner or a landscaper, 

but the more I get my hands dirty, the more I love it. 

The renovation of the inside of our home was such a big undertaking, 

I couldn't even think about the yard for several years. 

Now that the inside work is mostly complete, I am enjoying turning my attention to the outside.

Are you a DIYer when it comes to your hard or do you leave it to the professionals?