Before & After: Backyard Edition, 3rd & Final Phase

When we bought our house 8 years ago, there was a lot of work that needed to be done, especially the backyard.
The backyard was a DISASTER.
 It was 30 years of over growth & not being maintained.

The pool had issues. Major issues. Cracks. Leaks. Nastiness.

Kevin & I saw the potential and we had a vision of what we wanted our backyard to look like.
Well, 8 years later the backyard is FINALLY completed.
We did the backyard renovation in 3 phases and we are so happy with how it turned out!
Here is a little walk down memory lane to see the backyard transformation.
You know I love a good before & after :)
Backyard when we first bought the house in 2010.
There was a rotting overhang:
Phase 1 of this area...tearing down the overhang:
Phase 2 of the remodel in 2013...tearing out all the bushes along the fence & getting a new fence.
(Kevin tore all those original bushes out....took MONTHS!!!!)

 Alternate view:

 Phase 3...get rid of some of the lawn to extend the patio and to make a better walkway:

We added steps to new French Door (we added the French Door about 4 years ago)

Our beautiful outdoor living area that Kevin & our neighbor built:

Alternate view in 2010:

After:

I mean....wow.

So much better!!!

Garden area Before in 2010. It was just a bunch of weeds & overgrown plum trees that didn't produce anything.

We changed this area in 2011 & Kevin built Garden boxes & we added steps.

Garden Area 2018:

The pool BEFORE when we first bought it......it was like a swamp.

One of the first things we did before we moved in was re-do the pool, put up a pool fence, put up a new side fence & re-do the landscaping around the pool.

 Alternate view of pool area after we fixed in 2010 before we moved in:

In 2013, we ripped out the bushes and added more cement around the pool:

Last summer we took down the pool fence while Kevin was building the outdoor structure and we never put it back up (because Luke is extremely pool safe). Kevin also ripped out that palm tree that used to be in the middle of the patio)

The pool area is so user friendly now.

 BEFORE {May 2010} The kids called the pool a pond...it was scary!
After in 2018:

The lounge chairs are from Costco (and match the outdoor couches)

Closer look at the furniture in the Ladies Lounge:

The Ladies Lounge is what my friends and I have named this area :)

Furniture is from Costco.

We have a TV under here and we spend a lot of time out here. It's like an outdoor family room.

  The table converts to a firepit.

Night view:

Here is what the structure looks like from another angle:

The structure was officially finished at the beginning of this year, but this was the first Summer we have enjoyed it. 

It's been so nice to have shade back here!

The side yard is another area we re-did. 

Before in 2010, it was dirt & a random walkway.

To the left you see a mini fence (that hid our pool equipment). Another before because it was just nasty.

Here is what it looked like after we fixed it up a few months after we moved in:

Here is what it looks like now!

 Kevin & our neighbor built this awesome bar! We had the pool equipment moved so that it wasn't in the way, now it is behind the fence on the side yard.

Here is what the back of the bar looks like:

We call it the LarBar:

It seats 8 people at the bar.

There is also another TV.

I got the chairs HERE.

View from across the pool:

 We got rid of the grass in this area and extended our patio:

Of course I had to add hanging twinkle lights:

Here is what it looks like at night:

We are SO happy with how our backyard turned out.

It has been a labor of love. 

We did most of this with our bare hands (except for building a new fence & pouring the new cement, we hired professionals for that)

We also hired a professional to re-do the pool in 2010, move our pool equipment & change the electrical, but everything else was done by myself, Kevin & our neighbor. 

I did all the landscaping planning & Kevin and I did all the planting of trees, plants & laying black mulch.

The only thing that is original in the backyard is the grass (even though we changed the shape of it)

We ripped everything out, including the original patios & walkways. 

Everything else in the backyard from 2010 we literally ripped out with our bare hands. 

There is not one original tree or plant in our backyard.

Many hours of our blood, sweat & tears have been spent working in this backyard.

We do a TON of entertaining & throw a lot of parties and we love having people over to our house. We designed the backyard so that it would be an outdoor living space.

Kevin has guys over to watch sports & it's so nice having the outside bar area.

My girlfriends and I watch the Bachelor/Bachelorette on Mondays and it was so nice to have the outside Ladies Lounge so we could watch it there. We are also lucky that here in California we don't have bugs, so we spend a lot of evenings out there.

I think we've eaten dinner outside every night this summer.

So happy that we are FINALLY done and this was the first Summer we could relax in the backyard and not have a project going on.

You can see the entire Before & After of Phase 1 HERE and Phase 2 HERE

Hope you enjoyed the tour!