project update: backyard

The last two weeks we've been working on the house, I've been studying for finals, and in-between it all I've been trying to find time to pack for our move next week. But... I finally have a little progress to share! Awhile ago I shared before photos of our backyard, and after three weeks and a lot of help from my sweet in-laws it looked like this!
When we purchased the house, the only spot of grass back here was completely dead, and the flowerbeds were full of weeds, rocks, old mulch, piles of leaves, and overgrown plants.
This was what the two flowerbeds closets to our house looked like (after I pulled out an overgrown bush). I spent a week pulling weeds, picking out these rocks, and moving them to the new flowerbed by the fence.
Here they are all cleaned out with newly planted flowers.
Once they fill in it will be so bright and cheery. We still have a lot of projects to complete back here, but I'm so happy to finally have our yard cleaned up and ready for us to use all summer long. 

This week I'll also be sharing progress on our laundry room, kitchen, and bath remodel, so stay tuned!


project: backyard

This weekend we got a little taste of what the next few months will be like while we renovate the heck out of our new house. We started with the backyard because we wanted to get all of the work done and the grass planted before the Texas heat sets in. While the backyard didn't look too bad from far away, once you got up close it was a mess. I'm pretty sure the previous owners hadn't raked or done any sort of maintenance for years. There was also an old, warped deck that was very poorly put together, but at the same time terribly difficult to remove. It was full of crappy diy concrete work that we weren't expecting, and when they cut the boards, they just left the extra pieces under the deck along with a huge amount of rock that we had to clean up. There was a good 3-4 inches of dead leaves and weeds in all of the flower beds, along with a bunch of dead, diseased, and overgrown bushes on top of it. It was so far gone we decided to just take most of it out and put grass in its place. We want a place for Tobias to play and we just want it to be clean. Currently it is a breeding ground for snakes, spiders, lizards, and many angry ants, and we want to spend our time lounging by the pool, not worrying about whether or not we're going to be bit by ants and spiders.
(Sorry these pictures are blurry. Charlie changed the settings on my camera, and I didn't notice it as I was quickly taking these pics!)

This is how it is currently... I have to keep telling myself that it will get worse before it gets better, right? This is after ten 30 gallon bags full of yard debris had been cleaned up. We're hiring someone to haul away the old deck boards as well as the red brick trim along the pool and the various other random stones that were littering the yard. We're also cutting down the bush blocking the sidewalk by the house, the bush behind the diving board, and removing the diving board. After this is done we're getting pest control out to get rid of the critters, planting grass, and power-washing the concrete. Then I can finally get around to the fun stuff and order all of our patio furniture. I expect we'll be finished in the next week, and the grass will hopefully have filled in over the next six weeks before we move in.
 I'll make sure to share the after once the project is complete!

summer backyard party

Hands down, one of my favorite parts of summertime are intimate backyard parties. I've rounded up some must-haves that will be making an appearance in our next get-together!

parker & rain// mint flamingo lucite tray
calypso st. barth// bottle opener
society social// custom monogram coasters
shop sweet lulu// poof ball party game
furbish studio// donkey piñata
striped lilac turkish beach towel (on sale!)
happy chic by jonathan adler// striped ceramic vase (on sale!)