From a driveway when we first moved in to a muddy swamp with too many neglected garden beds, this yard has always been a challenging space for us. Aside from not understanding how to manage mud and water drainage, we didn’t have insight about how we envisioned using this space. We wanted gardens—but not too much, a nice soft ground for our pups—but definitely not mud that they would constantly track through the house, and most of all we wanted this space to feel like an intentional extension of our home.
Take one last look of what we started with before diving in to all the good reveal photos! We installed the blue tile on the original patio shortly after we moved in and covered all of our dead grass with mulch.
In this round of the One Room Challenge, we more than doubled our patio space by pouring a new concrete slab and tiling on top with Blu Widow Hex Encaustic Cement Tile from The Tile Shop.
We previously had an ambitious amount of garden beds that were neglected and unmanageable. We worked with our friend (@bungalow.blooms on instagram) to plan the perfect raised bed for us, complete with flowers per Michael’s request, and herbs for me!
We made the planter box our of scrap wood we had laying around in the yard and stained it with leftover deck stain. Not bad for a zero dollar addition!
Michael built a potting station to give us some extra storage and he even incorporated a utility sink!
The potting station is not done yet as we’re waiting on some backordered supplies, but we plan on adding a rain barrel so the faucet will have the option to dispense hose water or rain water!
We installed large pavers for a modern walkway from the gate to the patio.
The jasmine has been growing up the pergola we made earlier this year. We can’t wait to see it in full bloom this Spring!
Our outdoor sectional is a great furniture option for this space, but we eventually want to add a large dining table out here. I’m already looking at ideas for something that we can build, so stay tuned for that!
Without any green grass in this yard, we really wanted to Incorporate lots of greenery elsewhere to help this feel lush without having grass.
The jasmine on the fence and larger potted plants help a lot with that!
We added these Corten Steel planters to act as a room divider to help the patio feel like a defined space.
We could not be happier with this space and we completed it just in time to enjoy the beautiful Houston winter!
