Renovation-DIY-Design
A few weeks ago a friend of ours told me about this contest that This Old House magazine was having (thanks, Kat). I kept delaying the process of sending in an entry and this past weekend I FINALLY got around to doing it! Well, the …
I’ve actually grown up with this dresser being somewhere in the house given that my dad has owned it since he was a mere 13 year old boy. If you know my dad, and do the math, that makes this dresser pretty much an antique …
Now it’s time to catch you up on the progress we’ve made in the backyard. I say progress because it’s nearly done…but not quite!
The last time you saw our backyard it looked a little something like this:
Well, just as with the front yard, we actually accomplished quite a bit in the backyard prior to winter. To begin with we power washed the entire deck and stained the steps and main deck in a rich red wood color. The built-in bench, railing and step risers were not stained but instead were painted a crisp white to provide a clean and more updated look.
Then, because you could originally see right under the deck (which was NOT pretty at all) we installed some lattice around the majority of the bottom perimeter of the deck. We left out one small section because it already had several large bushes to block the underside of the deck in this area, especially in the spring and summer months. Also, in order to even install lattice in this section we would have had to cut away some of the branches of these big, mature bushes. This wasn’t really something we were willing to do! Anyways, the lattice was also painted white and not only hides the ugliness that was under the deck but adds some nice detail to what is really a very simple deck.
Although we really liked how much the lattice added to the deck we felt something else was missing. Duh, we really needed some landscaping! We chose to make the entire perimeter of the deck (with the exception of in front of the steps) a flower bed where we planted multiple azaleas in several different colors. Those haven’t started to bloom yet this year AND we really need to clean up the flower bed and add new mulch for the season (I warned you that this was the PROGRESS of the backyard, not the final!) But despite all these things remaining for us to do, our deck was left looking a little something like this prior to winter:
Oh yes, I probably should mention that the windows and door seen above are also new! Here’s another glance at them before so you can see the drastic difference the new windows and door make!
All we need now is a little more furniture and maybe some pretty outdoor decor! Hopefully I’ll get around to purchasing those items BEFORE all of our flowers bloom so you can see how colorful this backyard is at peak!
Oh wait, before I wrap up this post, the deck wasn’t the only aspect of the backyard that we worked on during last year’s warmer weather. The main body of the house was also improved upon with new windows and a fresh coat of Sherwin Williams’ “Softer Tan” paint to match the front of the house.
With all of these changes our backyard looks a little something like this:
