Friday, May 22, 2015

Backyard Retreat


One of the biggest renovations was adding a complete backyard retreat. When purchasing our home we knew it had great backyard potential. But what we did not know was how much money we had to invest. Definitely went over budget, our initial budget was $8,000 but we added a Pergola which I will show you later. Today I will only show the other expenses.

Right Side 

Left Side
 
We started with adding the cement and re staging the AC conditioners as you guys can see it was right next to the sliding door making it very noisy.  A few months later we added the sprinkler system and the grass and trees as the same time. After a few months later our backyard had a huge transformation.  As you can see in the bottom photos.
 
Right side View
Right side view with cement
 Playground & Chalk Board
 
Side view
We saved money since my husband install the playground and grass. We made the Chalkboard and sand box from scratch so we only added the material expense on the side. We will post the Pergola Soon. Also this summer we added more than 25 Plants around our home so we definitely made more investments in our backyard. Photos will be coming soon.  

Our budget estimate was around $8000

The reality was buying


Trees & flowers
Grass
Cement
Sprinkler system
Rocks
Mulch
Playground
Sand box
Chalkboard
Wood door

Moving AC units to the side

$10,900
 

Tuesday, May 12, 2015

Backyard Dining Table DIY


After purchasing a new dining table I decided to redo the color on the previous one I had and sent it to the backyard.

Sorry I totally forgot to take a before picture. 
 

It’s nice to have a table outside for the sunny and nice days to grill. Before you decided on the color make sure you clean the table and sand it down. This will help you get the best results. I used spray paint and needed around 7 cans. Make sure you let it dry complete for a couple of days before you send it outside.


This is the color I selected.They sale water resistant spray to protect the wood, I did not apply anything since it hardly rains here. The best spray paint I have tried is Paint plus Primer. I recommend not buying something that does not have a primer. Since I purchase paint for a DIY project and it was a waste of money.


Finally results looks like new. Found this cute table covers at swap meet all for $8dlls. Love the way it looks on the table, it makes a look very chic and pops out the aqua color. Sorry for the bad images need to update my Iphone. DIY Cost $38 including covers, pain and sanding material. Let me know what you think?

Monday, May 11, 2015

Sorry Blog


Sorry guys I been so bad with my post on my blog. I do have all the work but haven't been had time to sit down and post. I just realize how hard it can be to be stay home mom. You're always busy with children demanding, but have to say I have enjoy it so much. I decided the pass week to sit down and write at least 5 projects and will be posting one each week. I hope you enjoy and get great ideas. Don't forget to stop by and leave a comment. By the way Happy Mother Day hope you ladies had a wonderful day.