Backyard Makeover

When we moved into our house over 3 years ago, our backyard left a lot to the imagination.  There was no fence, no plants, an unsecured old deck, and weeds galore.  My father, Justin and I constructed the fence piece by piece during the first summer, and that was pretty much all we had done back there!  The rest was very uninspiring.

This summer Justin and I made it our goal to add some eye appeal and get more use out of our outdoor space.

Here are some embarrassing before shots of our backyard:

And the progress:

 It took lots of water and power to get this deck clean!

Can you say filthy?!?

After a fresh paint job with some leftover paint from my Dad :) (thanks Dad!)

After we added the lattice... much better, right?  {{On a sidenote... painting lattice is the WORST!!!!}}

Over on this side of the yard, I found a shade to match my brick color and painted my utility meter so it blended more with our house.  I also built a lattice enclosure to disguise our AC unit (more painted lattice...!!)  We still have some work to do over here but it is looking a lot better.

Ready for some pretty after shots?

Bright Shot Photography

 

After cleaning our concrete patio, we placed the perfect tribal print rug to define the space, then added a love seat and chair along with our bistro set.  You can get a great deal on these pieces at Target right now!  I found the perfect pillows to add more shades of blue to the space.  In the center we added a small fire-pit.  I hope to add a removable coffee table top to the frame of the pit to get more use out of it.  We spray painted the little side table an oil-rubbed bronze color and added some planters with poles to hold (my favorite) cafe lights.

 

Bright Shot Photography

Bright Shot Photography

I will have a tutorial on how we fastened our lights and how we were able to get drainage and weight in our planter pots--so check back!

And here are some more cafe light shots in all their glory:

 

 

Over to the side deck area:

Bright Shot Photography

We sold our orange cushions on CL and went with a blue floral.  The striped umbrella mimics the colors found in the decorative patio pillows. 

Bright Shot Photography

Now it's the perfect spot for dinner al fresco!

Bright Shot Photography

We also continued the blue theme on our front porch.  We added an adorable bench and ceramic stool and updated the pillows:

Source List

Patio:

Wicker Loveseat:  Target (on sale!!)

Wicker Club Chair:  Target (on sale!!)

Outdoor Tribal Rug:  Target

Fire Pit:  Walmart

Bistro Set:  old!

Accent Table:  old!

Decorative Pillows:  Lowes (here and here)

Owl planter pot:  gifted

Large planter pots:  Lowes

Cafe Lights:  Target 

Side Deck:

Patio Set:  Craigslist

Patio cushions:  Target

Umbrella:  Lowes

Solar Lanterns:  Target

Front Porch:

Rocking Chairs:  old

Bench:  Walmart (on clearance!!!)

**Highly recommend this piece... it looks so expensive and is such a great price!**

Pillows:  Here, here, and here

Ceramic Stool:  Homegoods

We still have a lot we would like to do to the outside but we are happy with the way it is looking so far.  Thanks for checking it out!  Now if we could only get rid of the mosquitos and the crazy hot/rainy weather :)

Happy Sunday!

Emily