Jul 21, 2011

The Backyard Project

Bringing a 90's house back to life! 
When we first purchased the home, the backyard was a jungle and the pool was a dark green (algae). We had 1 month to get it ready for the 4th of July party we had planned. Here are some before and after pictures :)

Click Images to see original (large) size

 Big and beautiful blank canvas...

The lawn needed help...

The cement around the pool had cracked and sunk so we started to rake the leaves.

Our gate had some kind of vines growing over it.

You couldn't even see the walkway here but it is there lol...
I cleared the area and exposed the walkway!
 
Welcome to  the jungle baby...

This is how it looks now :)

 My inspiration - A Tuscan style home :)

I first set up a Gazebo
...

Put some Outdoor Patio Conversation Seating
 underneath..my cat loves to nap here as you can see :)

Added some cute candle holders complete with Citronella Tealight Candles
 inside.

I found these great beaded string lights from Target that give the area a soft glow at night.


A great 7 Piece Dining Set with Auto Tilt Market Umbrella
 (the umbrella is a must-have because the steel on the table gets very hot in the sun!)

A couple of citronella candles in these cute candle holders via TJ Maxx :)

I found this little statue in the jungle in the backyard  :)

A view of the other side...I still have to choose what color to paint the entire outside of the home...any suggestions?

Our little "Aussie Walk-A-Bout " starter grill was perfect for the cook out!

My husband working hard to bring this lawn back to life :)

The gunite pool was the most difficult to bring back...we needed new filters, new cover top for the pump system, new diffuser, a diffuser ring, a bunch of chemicals, vacuum, brush, chlorine floats and more. I had to empty the entire pool twice and refill because the black algae came back. Now the ceramic tiles around the inside are falling off *sigh*

This fall I will empty the pool again, paint the inside, with rubber based paint, a gorgeous royal blue color, paint the red brick a white color, flagstone the concrete area and put in new glass tiles around the inside. We are going to also add a gate around the entire area for safety. The picture below is my inspiration and what I hope my pool will look like next summer :)

Nice, right?
We were able to avoid calling professionals and my husband lifted the concrete and added pretty white rocks around the outdated light switch :) We want to add lights in the ground instead.
Right now there are 3 light posts behind the pool..very outdated and the 1 in the middle even has a yellow light bulb :/
I hope you enjoyed viewing  our new backyard! Keep checking back because there is another month left of summer and I have a lot more to add so follow along with us :)

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