Remember how I talked about us doing a little backyard renovation like two years ago? Yeah, that never happened. We took initial steps to do it and then life got so incredibly busy with 3 little kids and we felt a little unsure of what we actually wanted to do back there, so we hit pause on the project. Here we are, two years later, finally ready to do something with our yard!
For some context, we have a bit of a tricky space in the back. We don’t have much space for grass (and the “grass” that we do have is struggling big time so there’s a lot of dirt/clay where there should be grass), we have a very large portion of “natural” area, lots of trees, and virtually no flat ground. It’s a bit of a tough yard to know what to do with! We decided to work with a landscape/yard designer to help us bring a vision to life. While I can walk into any room in a home and envision how I would decorate and arrange it, that skill does not translate to the outdoors for me, so we needed help from a pro! We should be getting our plans back from him any day now and then we can get moving forward on actually doing something back there!
We spend a lot of time outside. Right now, that time is spent mostly in our driveway or in the bit of yard right off the driveway. While that area is great for playing, we also are finding ourselves wanting some functional space that is more private for when we just want to be outside as a family…which is what got us to this point!
We’re planning to put in a patio with enough space for a dining and lounge area and maybe a fire pit area, creating a space for a playset, growing some real grass in the areas that we want it, doing a ton of landscaping, and adding in some walkways to get to different areas in the back. I am really excited for what it could be! I want it to be both functional to serve our family well and serene – like a little escape for us!
I’ll take you along the process as we get things going, but for now, I thought I’d share a little bit about the vision that I have in mind!
We did a covered porch with fireplace and extra wall heater. Here in PA. we can’t stay out here much past 50 degrees with those. It’s not enclosed. But we got an automatic shade for the one whole side for privacy and wind. And the other half of the deck is not covered and has a sunken hot tub. We absolutely love it. I sit out there in the rain under it and it’s so cozy. Share pics when you’re done. Would love to see. 😊 good luck with the renovation!