Our home : Backyard

^^ Before

Our little family has officially lived in our home for a year now. It is crazy how fast that time went! When we purchased this home it was one of 4 that we could afford in Encinitas, so there was not a lot of options to be choosey. Plus, we had heard about this neighborhood and the community that lives here and knew it would be a perfect place for our growing family. All that to say the house needed and still needs work! I think I underestimated the amount of time and money it would take for us to complete all of the little renovations I had planned for our house when we moved in. As our realtor walked us through this home I saw countertop updates, new paint, a small backyard renovation, and updated flooring and thought no big deal! Nothing major like breaking down walls and gutting rooms. 

Well of all of those dreams I had hoped for, we have completed only a couple, but one major was our total backyard overhaul.

^^ During

We learned a lot in the process. Stone and I sat down and decided just how much we were willing and able to spend on our backyard when all was said and done. There is not too much square footage back there and we were not wanting anything crazy either. Stone and I got multiple quotes around $10,000 for the entire project (not pictured is a wooden pergola and patio that was also built). This was definitely more than we were ready to spend... We actually wanted to spend half of that! Then, the final kicker was getting a quote for $20,000 (!). By this time we had enough and were just going to do it on our own. As a latch ditch effort we went back to each company and told them exactly what we were willing to spend and asked what they could do for that amount of money (probably should have done that at the beginning)... and you know what? We got everything we were hoping for and stayed within our budget, the only thing not included were the plants! Easy enough.

Stone has been in charge of the plants back there, my only requirement was that everything is low maintenance and my husband just wanted everything to be fragrant. So we have a beautiful yard now full of sweet smelling flowers, drought resistant plants, and a super delicious orange tree! My favorites are the asparagus fern, the freesia, and the french lavender! It may be a small space, but in California we spend so much time outdoors that it needed to be like a second room and I am so happy to say that we have achieved that! On to the next project...

xo.