When we first moved into this home 3 years ago, I dreamed of the day when we could complete this backyard makeover. The house, when we bought it, was in DESPERATE need of love. It was left to collect dust and had overgrown weeds, trees, poorly manicured grounds and full of light fixtures that were original to when the home was built. I would be LYING to you if I said I was not overwhelmed once we finally went through with the purchase. I was plagued with thoughts that we made the wrong decision and that we would regret having to buy a home that required so much work. However, three years later and I can honestly tell you it was one of the best decisions we have ever made. We have the best neighborhood, amazing location and I just love everything about this house that we have started making OUR HOME.
BEFORE
This patio was originally bluestone, which is gorgeous but it was over 55 years old and it was broken everywhere. It was a serious hazard for the kids and I didn’t want anyone getting hurt. Last spring we planned to do our patio over but after taxes, we had no money left. We ended up doing the demo of the patio by ourselves and just stripping the bluestone and leaving the concrete for last summer so that it was safe for the kids. We waited until this year to do the whole makeover once we were able to save more.
BEFORE – stripped bluestone to just concrete so it was safer last summer
During DEMO of the patio
The first step was the do the patio AND the walkway over. The stone walkway was a huge tripping hazard for the kids! We had the patio completely redone and then we started on the excavating of the backyard. We have a decent amount of acreage but you wouldn’t know it because a lot of it is woods. We decided to take down about 25 trees and excavate so that we could replace it all with grass.
We chose Techo Bloc’s Blu Stone 60 mm for the patio (Color is Champlain Grey)
After the trees were down and during excavation
The grass took quite awhile to come in and we reseeded it three times (damn animals/birds kept eating it) and by the time it came in, it was SO hot outside. Bottom line, we need to reseed again in fall so that it grows properly. We have a ton of weeds and crab grass mixed with the grass right now! After all of that was done, we landscaped the beds surrounding the walkway and the patio! My husband also put in an outdoor shower at the beginning of the walkway so that when we come home from the beach, we can rinse off – it’s amazing!
When they did the patio, we also had them add in this fire pit! Chris from Against the Grain was kind enough to reach out and send us a few of these amazing gliders for around our fire pit. These gliders are constructed beautifully by the Amish and are the best quality I have ever seen. Best part is that you can leave them out all winter without worrying about the hardware tarnishing or the chairs weathering. They can withstand the New England weather well! They resist cracking, splitting and mold so they are great as far as longevity goes. You never have to worry about them cracking down the road and you or your kids getting splinters on them. Low maintenance is how I like to keep everything I own, these wash down with just a little soap and water! If you are in the market for outdoor furniture that is low maintenance and HIGH quality, I highly recommend them!
GLIDER 15% off COUPON CODE: LYNZY
Use in store or online! In store, just mention my blog for the 15% off 🙂
For those of you that missed the blog post where I discussed how we made the decision on this swing set, you can head here! You can use code: LYNZY10 for 10% off until June 1st!
The gazebo is from Costco and we bought it last year (thinking we would renovate the patio last year but then we didn’t) so it stayed in a box in our garage for a year. I am going to be very blunt here, it was a BITCH to build but it is GORGEOUS.
I fell in love with this table but went with a different set of chairs (because it saved money and I liked these better anyways). In the winter, I plan to cover everything up with table and chair weatherproof covers.
TABLE | CHAIRS | RUG | LANTERN – Country Living Fair | PILLOWS – Home Goods | LIGHTS | OUTDOOR WALL LIGHT | PLANT STAND (similar here)
Linking up some of my favorites on sale below that are in stock!
SHOP THEM ALL HERE!
Oh it looks amazing. I love your patio area and the gazebo is gorgeous. Great idea with the chairs for the dining table, I love those. You did a fabulous job with your makeover
The sound of the bIrds in the Video! Wow! So relaxing! Love the updated backYard!
Amazing! Love the traNsformation and the Hard work you all put into your home. We aLso bought a fixer upper and have lived in it through its many stages. its so rewarding but also Real hard during the middle of it all. 🙂
Ots ABSOLUTELY BEAUTIFUL!!! Iam so happy for tou.. i orderwd the same gazebo from cosco ????every teview i tead was tht it was a complete B*•ch to put up.???????? i have one Question thats been Bothering me, how bad is the t when it rains? The noise. The canopy that ive haD for yrs is canvas but the aound was relaxing. Iam just neevous it will be That annoying loud noise???? WEll now you can sit back and finally enjoy it!!! ❤️❤️
Love your backyard makeover it’s amazing! !!!! The choices you made were perfect. from the playset,patio,outdoor shower,the gliders and the icing on the cake that gorgeous gazebo. It’s like a minitial vacation spot. enjoy
What do you have lining and keeping the cedar chips in the play area? We’ve been wanting to do the same but want to keep it something that wont be kicked over or difficult to mow/weed eat around.
We redid our backyard Last year and thus year and i Know how much work goes into this! It looks great!
We took Trees down and added grass, what worked well for us (we’re in cT too) is that we used Scotts turf builder. Our landscaper used his SPECIALTY seed, but tO be honest, scotts Is what turned it around for us. You may want to give it a try.
Beautiful space! Can you tell us about the lighting on the play house?