Let's Take it Out Back...

The sun is shining, the Angels are singing and this chick (thumbs point to self) is one happy lady!

For a loooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooong time now, I have been posting about doing our back yard. "Were going to work on it soon", "Going to start it soon", "just kidding, were going to work on the upstairs instead", blah blah blahbity blaah!

Well, FINALLY! We have started the process of the backyard overhaul! This past Saturday we hired someone to come out and create a blank slate for us to create our backyard oasis.

Here is the lovely before. Please note the many different types of dead grasses and weeds as well as the graveled section and puppy created dirt pits. It was a doggone mess (no pun intended) and I am so happy were on our way to having an outdoor space we can use and enjoy.

Justin was equally excited about the excavation that was about to take place...

but the pups were a little concerned for the well being of their domain. They sat in that spot for hours until they were allowed to go out and run around with the tractor. :]

The first step of the excavation was to scrape the top layer of crud and bury it.  Jerad (Mr. Excavator) then leveled and feathered the dirt to make nice even ground.

4 hours and $260 later, here is the finished product! The next phase, that will take place this coming weekend is a sprinkler system and after that we will seed the yard and hopefully get some luscious grass!

Fun Fact:  About three feet under the surface of our land the dirt becomes this black sand. Jerad said it was the first time he'd ever seen anything like that! I wonder if its volcanic or something? I love a good mystery.

So after the irrigation system is in and the grass is all strong and beautiful, this is what we have planned... 

Here is a little layout I created on Powerpoint. Most of this will happen next Summer but if weather permits, we can work on it over time until then.  I would like to have a small deck off of our french doors that I could put a rocker or something like that. We are going to lay a patio, create a solid surface area for our table and chairs and build an outdoor seating area surrounding a fire pit.

I am quite the Pinster (Pinning Gangster - Pinterest) lately and have found some inspiration photos.

Our folks are giving us 43 2x2 pavers for FREE and we are going to use them to create our patio space. I know that I want to stain them to a warmer tone (they are a cement grey) and I would like to position them like the photo below.  I love the grass look in between each stone and it will stretch our paver square footage to the maximum since we only have 43.

I also want to incorporate a little DIY into the space. I have been saving wine bottles and think this project would be the perfect way to use them. They would have to be citronella because the mosquitos love me and I want to attach them all along our fence line. Love this idea!

Another DIY project I want to incorporate is a drink cooling area like the one below.  In the picture they have the metal bins in the middle of a picnic table which I like but I also think it would be cool to use the same type of boards to create a more elevated counter surface and have the metal bins running along the back of the counter to create more of a bar setting.... maybe i'll do both!

The big statement piece for the backyard would be a built in bench.  My father-in-law is a mason and I know this could become a reality.  I could then use my novice sewing skills and try to whip up some custom cushions. I want to have it surround a fire pit to create the ultimate campfire setting.

So many things to look forward to in this outdoor space. I can't wait to have a place to entertain and to use as an extension of the house next summer.