Looking back on where our backyard started, it’s hard to believe the transformation that has taken place. This home was in desperate need of some TLC. The siding was over 30 years old and showing its age, and no landscaping or exterior maintenence had ever been done except for mowing the lawn.
We enlisted a siding company to replace the old, worn, moldy yellow siding, and chose a dark grey vertical ‘board and batten’ siding in the color ‘iron ore’. While picking our house color, I also took into consideration the house colors on the rest of the street. Our neighborhood has a lot of white, beige, and brick houses; so we knew we wanted to go darker to throw a little contrast in the mix.
Changing the exterior siding brought a modern aesthetic to our outdoor spaces. The next step was to roll up our sleeves and bring our patio area up to speed. Like any major project, if there are areas where you can do some of the work yourself, you can save quite a bit of money. We chose to tackle the landscaping and patio area ourselves instead of hiring these jobs out.
When it comes to keeping plants alive, my husband and I don’t have the best track record. So I did some research on plants I knew we wanted and we relied on the knowledgable employees at our local nursery to guide us in the right direction.
The landscaping anchored our patio space, making it more of a featured area in the backyard. It also helped create a designated walking area on and off the patio. I am excited to have our plants mature a bit, and see everything in full bloom.
The last major part of this backyard makeover was cleaning up the concrete patio and stone retaining wall. We used a power washer to clean off the years of grime that built up – and what. a. difference. Power washing is a messy job, yet so satisfying!
Cleaning the concrete prepped the surface for painting. I also filled any cracks in the cement with ‘Quickcrete’ concrete repair before laying down the first coat of paint. After three coats of exterior paint on the patio – I created a stencil from cardboard and started mapping out the spacing.
Once my pattern was on, I sealed the concrete with a low gloss sealer to protect the paint and make it easy for cleaning the patio off over time. Over the 4th of July weekend, we added landscape lighting and strung up our string lights from our wedding to finish off the space. We could not be happier with our upgraded backyard space! This may just be my favorite before and after we’ve done so far.
