For the past two years Ben & I have been so occupied renovating the inside of our house that we have barely even thought about the outside. Last summer we spent most of our spare time on our newly built front porch that over looks beautiful Lake Ontario but we were lacking a space with privacy. This past winter we have been brainstorming ideas for our backyard oasis and we were eager to start tackling it so we could enjoy it all summer long.
If you are in a similar situation where you are planning to revamp your own outdoor space(even if it's not quite as drastic as ours) I encourage you to start with a thorough brainstorming session. Go on Pinterest or Google and collect images that inspire and excite you. Think about what you want to get out of your space and visualize how you would spend your time out there. For us, we knew we wanted a space to BBQ, a place to sit outside to eat and a lounge space where we could hang out with friends and have the option of some shade on hot summer days. We imagined hosting movie nights on an outdoor projector screen and having late nights laughing around a fire pit with friends. I knew plants and a water feature were small details I wanted to create zen vibes that I would enjoy if I laid out reading a book and Ben wanted a putting green that he could sharpen his golf skills on. Kind of sounds like a dream doesn't it? Well, to me it does but every dream comes with a lot of hard work, so let's begin.
We started with mapping out our patio size, we decided on a patio vs. a deck for multiple reasons. First off, we wouldn't be required to get a permit, secondly, wood is like gold these days and unfortunately we have not won the lottery, and lastly it was going to be way less work by not having to dig out footings. Once we had our size marked out we were able to start setting our grade. Ben borrowed a skid steer from work so we could quickly scrape off the sod and start levelling out the ground. Once we had the proper depth set we were able to add a layer of gravel and then build our forms around the perimeter. We booked a concrete truck for the following weekend but unfortunately it's too tight around our house to get the truck back there so we knew we were going to have to wheelbarrow the concrete from the front of the house to the back. Luckily, we recruited some friends and made a weekend out of it enticing them with food, drinks and more drinks. We chose to do stamped concrete with the barn board pattern which turned out beautiful.
Next, was the fun part where we would really start to see the space transform. Just like any design project, creating designated spaces for how you want to utilize the area is key and adding in variations of textures is what creates interest to the viewers eyes. We accomplished this by building a pergola with a privacy wall on the back side to separate the space and built a large bbq counter along the back wall of the house to create a custom cooking area (we just have to pour our concrete counter top and add our handles to complete this project). We refinished an old workbench from a shed we tore down a year ago and turned it into our outdoor harvest table to set up our dining space. By adding Riverstone around the perimeter of the patio it added an interesting visual element as well as allowing us to create a more subtle grade off the patio to help prevent someone from rolling an ankle off the edge.
It's been about 3 weeks of us picking away at this space and we aren't done yet, but, I wanted to share some of the progress to hopefully help inspire you with your own outdoor area. We still plan to extend the Riverstone out the back to lead guests to a fire pit located in the middle of our yard and add one more small privacy fence at the end of the pathway to the patio. Ben is sourcing out his materials for his putting green which will be a fun addition to the space that really helps us maximize every inch of our backyard.
We have already used this space more than we imagined and it's like we added an addition onto our house gaining an extra kitchen, living room and dining room for half the year which is pretty incredible. So, I encourage you to take a look at your own space even if it's a small balcony on an apartment and make it a space you will want to use all summer long!
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