Backyard Renovation - Part 1

Do you have an area inside (or for us) outside of your home that needs so much work that just the thought of it completely overwhelms you?

Another year goes by.....

and another...and another....

until you just can't take it anymore.....

so you bite the bullet.....

Well, that's what our backyard was for us!



We talked a lot ALOT about our backyard patio and the space extending off of this patio and how we could renovate it into something that we would actually use and enjoy.

We wanted an area that the family enjoy when they came to stay as well as something that my husband and I would be able to use throughout the year.

I had to laugh when I was looking for before pictures of the entire space.   We disliked it so much before that we were hardly ever back there and certainly didn't take pictures when we were.  I mean to say it wasn't the perfect "Kodak Moment" backdrop would be an understatement.

I'm kinda embarrassed to even show this one but this was the existing patio before we got started the renovation.

We threw around several ideas and in the end I couldn't be more thrilled with what we decided on but let's rewind several months back.

A couple of trees along our back property line had to be removed so we could knock down the existing fence.  When my husband had the land surveyed we found out we had an additional 2' of land behind the existing fence line.  Woo hoo!!

Once the trees were removed then we were able to get started on adding to our existing patio.  We decided to go with a concrete slab as opposed to a deck, mainly because it will be a lot less maintenance overall.  Anyone notice the pipe in the middle of this collage? Wonder what that is for?

Boy, was it a mess back there but even this was an improvement!

This gives you a better look at the extension of the patio.  The pictures on the right are where we also  extended it behind the garage wall and over to the driveway.

This picture really shows just how old and worn the existing fence was but you can get an idea of how far back the patio now goes!

We wanted the new and old patio slabs to look cohesive and after talking ALOT more, we decided on an acid stain finish with a scored pattern.

 If you are local and looking for someone to acid stain your concrete, NuCrete did a great job and they are so easy to work with!


After pressure washing the old concrete and sanding the new concrete, they had a clean slate to work with.



This is where the artistry began.  I was so excited to watch this process that I failed to take pictures along the way.

They actually used four different colors of acid stain over several times to come up with this finished look.

Once the staining was finished, the concrete was scored in a diamond pattern that I had previously selected.  It looks so good that most people think it's individual tiles when they see it.

If you follow me on Instagram, then you know I have a whole lot more to share including a trip to the ER, a Mother's Day adventure at Home Goods, and a small incident with a raccoon.

Thanks for stopping by and be sure to stay tuned for Part 2 of our Backyard Renovation which will be coming soon!

Have a great day!

Kim