Summer Sun Before & After

As promised in my last blog (when I showed you a sneak peak of our fresh new patio), here it is! About 2 years ago we bought a foreclosed home at an auction, what a thrilling experience buying a home at an auction. There were points in the bidding process where we didn't even know exactly which price the auctioneer was saying! Prior to attending the auction we had a home inspection done, we looked at comps, we knew how much we would be willing to pay...we did our research. At the end of it we ended up getting a great deal and won the bid :) So, then it came to the fun part of fixing it up because it sure needed it. We remodeled the entire downstairs and re-vamped the landscaping. In my upcoming blogs I will go room by room through our remodel, but for now I'll focus on the backyard. This is what the backyard looked like when we moved in. It had a 30 year old chatahoochee pebble patio which with every step you got pebbles stuck to your feet and would track into the house. It also had mold/moss in spots because of standing water. There was a large shrub that made the backyard feel very small, and there was sand in the backyard instead of grass. It was not an ideal place for hanging out and living in Florida you really do want to spend time in your backyard grilling or just relaxing. BEFORE: ________________________________________________________________ This is Ben observing the action. It was a free babysitter for me :) We removed the hedge and replaced it with a thicker ficus hedge on the upper level, planted grass, replaced the fence top from an 8" width plank to a 12" width plank (so that we can use it as a bench), planted some mini Italian Cypress', installed cement pavers, and last but not least tiled the patio! We did remove the pebbles first, its important to have a smooth flat surface to start. AFTER: We decided to use 24x24 On Square Cemento Porcelain tile for the patio. After it was installed my husband said "it looks just like cement"...that's what we get with a color called Cemento :) We both love the way it turned out. The back garden is a really nice space for grilling and hanging out now. Close up shot... What tile did you use in your backyard makeover? Is anyone doing any outdoor projects for the summer? Stay tuned for the rest of the remodel.