My Dream Backyard

Hello - hello - anyone - anyone still out there???

Sorry for the lack of blog posts, but here is the reason I haven't been able to focus on any

projects lately!!  We have a huge project going on right here in our own backyard!!

I've gone back and forth with whether or not I should do this post -

because I don't want to seem boastful or like I'm bragging about this

or saying "look at what I have". 

That is not the case at all!!

This is about a dream

and the biggest design project to ever happen in my life!!!

Plus, I started my blog to document the projects I'm working on, as well, as inspiration I find

from others.  This project is all about finding inspiration from other people and sources.

I love all things related to design - great before and after photos and seeing projects completed.

This post is about all of those things - happening right here at the farmhouse!!

The Man and I have many pictures pulled from magazines, dog-eared pages in landscaping books,

ideas in our heads, on paper napkins, on notebook pages, many pictures saved in my favorites file and

much time logged on our back porch visualizing our dream and how great it would be

 to have it come to fruition so we could share it with family and friends! 

Due to the number of photos I have, I will do this in several posts, so please hang in there with me!!! 

The actual project started January 17, 2011 with a spray painted outline in my backyard!!

The perfect blank slate!

 It was a wide open space begging for something - anything - but we had a plan and didn't want to spend time or money on landscaping that we knew would be temporary and/or interfere with our grand plan.

So, for over 6 years, we've lived with the empty backyard - just waiting for this day!

Yay!!! Momma's gettin' a swimming pool!!!!!

January 18, 2011 - I was so excited this on day!!!

It's actually happening!!! 

   

They weren't messing around!! We had this huge hole in our backyard the first day of digging.

My baby boy!! He can't wait to get in - water or not!

Boys will be boys - no matter what age!! He loved "playing" on the dirt pile.

By the way, they dug up about 16 dumptruck loads of dirt to create this dream dirt pile for my son.

We asked to keep the dirt for our landscaping project!!!!  That's ALOT of dirt! Hope we can use it all!

The re-bar, electrical and plumbing were all set -

This was a busy day on the cul-de-sac!!!

Three huge trucks showed up to spray the gunite (concrete type stuff) as the pool base.

All this only took about 4 hours and was a little messy!!

They had to place a temporary tarp wall to keep it from blowing on the house.

This was an exciting day because we could actually see what the pool was going to look like!!

We had them create a suntan ledge and a few benches into the walls.

(see how large the yard is)

We had to make a trip to the rockyard to pick out the stone we wanted as the coping around the edges.

 I wanted stone instead of brick for a more natural look.  Picking out the stone was easy!!

The tile - not so much!!!

I had a really difficult time with this and wasn't confident in my decision

 until the pool was filled with water. 

Here's The Man watering the gunite!! We had to keep it wet so it wouldn't crack. That was a little

nerve wracking to know that we could be the cause of a crack so early on in the project!!

I love the flagstone we picked out and most of the time it looked great with the tile.

But there were days when it appeared peach, instead of tan. Not what I had envisioned at all!!!

Well, we got to this point really quickly - then it snowed - twice!! This caused a 2 week delay.

The pool full of ice and snow.

The snow finally melted, but there was still ice. Thick ice in the deep end of my pool!!

Yay!! It's finally melting!

Let's get this party started again!!



Doing a little dirt work in prepartion for the patio and decking.



Wow!! That's going to be a big patio!!!

The patio and decking are completed and I'm freaking out!!!

You know how things looks all "wonky" in a funhouse mirror??

Well, that's what my new patio and deck looked like to me. It was a sea of wonky concrete!!

I cried!!

We paid extra money for all this concrete and it looked ridiculous!

It slanted and sloped -

and how was someone going to sit upright in their chair??

I called The Man

I called Greg - our pool contractor -

Greg said it looked fine. I called The Man again - I cried.  He called Greg.

I wasn't happy!! Not sure what could be done at this point, but I WAS NOT happy!

Greg came back out and looked at it again and surveyed it to make sure it was ok -

I'm sure this was just to satisfy this hormonal crazy woman -

but again, he said it was "slanted and sloped" the way it needed to be for proper drainage

and assured me it would look good and I should just wait until it was all completed

to make my final determination.

Oh yeah, right?? Wait til it's completed so nothing could be done??

So, that's what I did!! I waited and waited!! 

And I'll give you a heads-up. It did turn out looking great!!

Greg did know what he was talking about!! I should have believed the professional!!

On top of being unsure about the patio and decking, we had to pick out a pool color.

Not by looking at life size pools, but looking at 2x2inch color samples.

What?? You think picking out paint colors is difficult - this kept me awake at nightt!!

 We didn't want it too dark, we didn't want it too light, didn't want it to look like

a motel swimming pool, and didn't want it to be a "trendy" color that would be outdated in a

couple of years. I wanted it to be the color I visualized in my mind, but what "color" is that??? 

I can decorate a house, but take me outside and my mind goes completely blank!

I can't visualize the space -

Everything I know about decorating my house just comes naturally -

but outside -

NOT SO MUCH!!!

So, this is where I'll leave you for now - contemplating a pool color!!!

I'll post more later this week.  Thanks for hanging in there!!

I promise the "after" photos will be worth the wait!!