Backyard/Patio Refresh…In Progress!

Okay, peeps.

Let’s talk about outdoor spaces!

We’ve been working on a little backyard refresh (and general grass/yard revitalization, but that’s a whole other post for a whole other day), and I’ve captured so many adorable pics this week, I thought it might be nice to share a sneak peek of our work in progress!

Helloooo, new back patio chairs! (And rug, and repositioned lemon trees—fake; not real—that used to live in the front).

So…the long and short is this: the April/May timeframe is one of the most intense, maintenance-wise around our property.

The pollen, the overgrowth of shrubs and plants and WEEDS, the top soil and mulching and trimming and cleaning, and beautification…is a LOT.

Our house is situated on nearly an acre of land, and backs up to a nature preserve. Additionally, prior to our ownership, I don’t think much was tamed around here. So…needless to say, there’s a lot to both keep up with, and catch up with. At all times.

And I’m not gonna lie: it’s exhausting. 

And overwhelming.

And more often than not, I feel like things just look worse and not better, year after year—thanks to climate factors, major freezes, water restrictions, and just the general challenges of both the wildlife in this area, and the rocky terrain.

So…we basically select a few small projects each year that seem manageable, and the rest of our available time and resources are spent just maintaining, maintaining, maintaining, as best week can.

This year, one of the novelty projects we’ve begun is…power-washing!

I’m going to both thank and curse my father-in-law for the fact that I’m now a proud new owner of my own power-washer, ha. It’s incredible to see the difference it can make…but also incredibly time consuming.

We spent loads o’ time last weekend sprucing up the back patio, stairs, retaining wall and pool rocks. And you can totally tell a difference! I didn’t snap the best before/after pics (thanks to some lighting challenges during the time of day I was taking pics), but these are some pretty noticeable before/after pics of the retaining wall…

What a difference, yes??

Here’s another shot of two stones, side-by-side. One cleaned, one still dirty.

Needless to say, it was nice to wash away all that grime, and it’s hard not to tackle the whole dang property once you start, but…again: uber time consuming and there just aren’t enough hours in the day!

But.

Any bit of power-washing is better than no power washing, so…I’ll take it!

Now.

As part of this clean-up process, and preparation for the upcoming swim season—and all the time we spend out back—I decided it was time for a bit of a furniture refresh.

Until now, we’ve had just a basic, metal patio table/umbrella and very inexpensive chairs. Functional, kind of weather worn by now, but…it did the trick for a few years.

However, considering we bought that set when we first moved here and Little Man looked like this (I DIE), it was kind of time to re-think things.



You can read about our original patio furniture purchase from 2019 here:

http://delappenings.blogspot.com/2019/05/patio-dining.html?m=1

But if you’re not interested in reading it through, I’ll give you a little recap: back then, we kind of assumed we’d spend the most time outside actually dining, and that a table would be best. But, really…we rarely cart a whole meal out there (though, when we do, it’s delightful). Rather, 99% of our time spent in the back is centered around swimming—something we didn’t understand as new pool owners when we first moved here.

Basically, four years later (I’m kind of shocked it’s taken us this long for a refresh!), I finally realized it would be FAR MORE helpful to have functional, comfortable seating, and perhaps a small coffee or side table (for casual dining) for all those afternoons and evenings spent with the kiddos in the water and the hubby and I either in there with them, or on the sidelines keeping watch.

So…we started hunting for something inexpensive (I’m a firm believer in affordable outdoor furniture because it just gets weather beaten all to hell in South Texas; no matter what you do!), something cozy, preferably something that rocked, and…voila!

We found this perfect set of swivel gliders that are sooo cozy, big enough for two kiddos to sit side-by-side, and complete with sturdy covers. All good things!

The hubby helped me set them up last weekend in the glorious golden light, and I only took about a dozen pictures during the process, ha.

And it always seems like the deer come and find us on evenings when something happy is going down, or it’s just a positive mood. And there they were!



Fast forward a few days and a fun outdoor rug and lemon trees later, and…the kiddos have really come to adore these chairs! In fact, it’s become an evening ritual to run out there and spend some spinning/rocking time before the crazy summer heat descends.







We have plans in a couple weeks to add a small, matching outdoor couch, we’re just trying to be responsible and space out the cost. Oh! And an umbrella. A new one will be joining the fun.

Each year, it’s tradition for us to open our personal swim season over Memorial Day Weekend, so we’ve got just a bit more time to get it all situated. And if we can swing it, I would love, love, love to add just one other fun piece of furniture out back, but more on that later. 

Basically, we’re trying to take it slow and steady to set everything up in a way that it’s most useful for our family and guests—and that it’s a beautiful as possible for the bunches of time we’ll be spending out there, sooooon.

The kiddos have really taken to spinning in these chairs until someone feels sick, ha. And you know what? Go for it!

Okay, now a whole slew of pics!































Look—another day, another evening round of spinning and fun!















As a side note, it was really really lovely to have the girlies’ beg to take their friends out back during their STAAR celebration. 

They enjoyed the chairs and explored all over the back—including the new stone border/path I installed—and it just really warmed my heart.

It’s no secret that we have a massive love/loathe relationship with this house of ours. I mean…if these walls could talk. 

But it’s also no secret that we get so much family joy out of our summer time out back, and we’re really excited to see that fun time on the horizon. It’ll be here before we know it!

So…there’s a sneak peek for you, but MUCH MORE on the rest of the refresh, along with our crazy grass battles, in another post, soooooon.

Okay, HAPPY WEEKEND, peeps!

Over and out.