Revealing the Backyard Makeover!

It’s Week 8 of the One Room Challenge, and we’re revealing the backyard makeover! Before I get to that, I’d love to send a big thank you to Linda Weinstein, and the teams of the One Room Challenge & Better Homes & Gardens, who make this event possible. It’s a great way to accomplish your goals and be inspired by so many talented new friends!

While the last week has been full of rain and unexpected challenges, the final result is a transformed space–all that we could ever want! (See all the before photos and the original plan in Week 1.)

Revealing the Backyard Makeover

Let’s get to it. The ugliest part of our yard has been made into a beautiful space for our family to relax. It’s not done, but it’s as far as it’s going to get right now! Check out the before…

The garden was removed, leaving just the rotted exterior of our shed exposed as a focal point. During Week 6, we were able to remove and replace the exterior and paint it. With the new concrete pad in place, we decorated! 

Meet our new outdoor living space!

In between rainstorms, we were able to pull this off! I can’t tell you how grateful I am to Mother Nature for giving us this lovely day!

So. Much. Rain.

I’d be lying if I told you I knew we’d get this done. By Saturday morning, the rain hadn’t stopped, and I found myself hurrying through Target to buy a couple cute accessories for Reverie…if all we were going to get was rain, I was going to make the best of it. So revealing the backyard makeover turned into a fun photo shoot with our little Revi Grace. 

Do you remember what this corner used to look like?!?! See Week 4

We even got a break from the rain.

But not for long.

The herbs are loving all the rain.

She loves her new umbrella…it goes with these pink rain boots that she NEVER takes off.

A Day Later

What a difference a day makes. We were able to finish the sod–which is amazing, since the dog and kids have been stepping in the mud all week. 

The wall decor is from At Home, as well as the lantern. Everything else is styled with pieces found in our home, which is the best way to decorate on a budget!

I used some rosemary and lemon to infuse this water. Some of my favorite summer drinks use herbs from our very own pallet wall.

The umbrella was found on Amazon. The rug is from Rugs USA. The patio furniture is the Adler Collection from Sam’s Club.

Six Weeks Later

In the midst of a pandemic, you’ve got to be patient, right? We had originally planned to have a gazebo in place. Patience paid off, and with quite a bit of summer left to enjoy, we received the gazebo we had ordered.

Around the Patio

As for the rest of the patio, we were able to cut and add sod around the entire thing. Again, such a relief. My house will be happy to have less mud on little feet. See our patio extension project for more info on what we had done.

The Rest of the Yard

Since we are revealing the backyard makeover, let’s take a look at the rest of it, now that the rain is taking a break. We have lots of things blooming–or about to bloom!

This space in the yard has come a long way over the past year–especially in the last 8 weeks!

This side area next to the pool got landscaped with plants, homemade sod, a rock stream, a paver landing and a pallet wall!

The Pallet Wall

I got a few more shots of the pallet wall, and I can’t not share them. I swapped out the waving pansies this week for this dark purple sweet potato vine, and I’m thrilled with the look. As you can tell, the herbs have loved all the rain, and I’ve got some pruning to do!

Thank you for joining me on this journey! It’s been a great way to get ready for a summer–and fall–of enjoyment! We have family coming in this week for the summer, and I can’t wait to hang out back here with them!

Stay tuned if you want to see what’s next for this space. We have something coming in the next couple weeks that you won’t want to miss. They were sold out everywhere, but we snagged one that’s being re-stocked!