I’m going to start off this post by unapologetically admitting that our backyard isn’t anything to write home about in terms of looks. It has, however, provided thousands of hours of entertainment for our girls, a good bit of produce in our garden despite its lack of sunlight, an ample amount of space for our dogs to run around like maniacs, and a place for our chickens to call home, among other things. I will be the first to say that this space could be (even more) awesome. In fact, Stephen and I have already dreamed up a lot of those plans for the case that we stayed here for another tour (first thing I’d do is add some string lights!). With the upcoming move though, we’ve simply run out of time to execute. I mean, to give us a break… We have been a tad busy renovating every inch of the inside of the house while adding a couple more children to our family… Things have stayed lively around here to say the least. We were still determined to make it “better than before” though so that is what we did and boy are we glad! We like it so much more! I hope this post encourages you to grab the pressure washer and paint if you so desire and make your home a place you love even more.

It’s really quite simple – a good deep clean and some paint can move mountains. Kidding kidding. But really… Yes we cleaned up the landscaping, added some stone, and rearranged some existing pavers but what made the biggest difference is breaking out the pressure washer and paint. Here’s the before (peep baby Ellie!):

We started out by moving the shed, removing the shrubbery and popcorn tree and then we added new mulch and stone around the house so that it’s easy to maintain for future renters. We wanted it to be easy to maintain and also desired more natural light in the house, which the tree blocked quite a bit of. Then we pressure washed everything (we did this about six months ago and it already could be done again!) and painted the deck and fence around the AC unit using this paint in the color SW Iron Ore.

We had a mashup of outdoor furniture. Our neighbors left chairs and an outdoor side table in front of their house for trash when they moved and we shamelessly took them to use temporarily. Well, they do the job so after a couple of years we still use them regularly. I figured I’d paint them so they at least look less random and mismatched out here for the renters to use. It’s important when painting plastic that you use plastic primer and spray paint that works on plastic. You can find a tutorial here. I also painted our brown metal table and the little side table black using spray paint we had on hand. I wanted to do something a bit more fun for the girls so the girl’s pink chair was painted using primer and Magnolia’s spray paint in the color Ella Rose.

We completed all of this back in the summer. The seasons have even changed (twice) before getting this post up! Ha. The mismatched chairs and beat up looking deck didn’t stop us from being in our backyard before but we will say that after we finished and it cooled off a bit we spent even more time out there. We’d randomly look out the window and say with a smile, “It just looks so much better!” Even with these minor improvements it feels a bit more cohesive with the freshly painted exterior and entirely renovated interior. It might not be the full blown plans that we dreamed of but it still makes us much happier that it’s a better reflection of our family and the home we’ve loved so well these past three years. That’s my point in sharing this post. So that you remove the silly expectations social media and our society today have created and just do what you love and want to do with your budget and time. OR DO NOTHING AT ALL! Either one, I believe, is a valid choice.

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