Patio Project (aka Operation Cocktail Space)

corner of the patio with a tree and fence

First of all, let me say a big “Thank You!” to all of you who’ve been checking in on my blog and leaving comments. I really really appreciate them.

Anyway, a few weeks ago over dinner Eric said he was thinking about doing something about this unused corner we have in our side yard. We have a very small cement patio that is mostly taken up by the grill. To the right of that patio area there are some pavers that lead to the backyard. Eric has his herb garden on that side near the back door. But on the left side of the patio, between where the concrete ends and the gate going to the front yard is, it’s a wasteland of weeds and lava rock and three unusable stepping stones.

sad patch of dirt with weeds and round stepping stones in front of two windows

So when Eric suggested we do something with this area, I was ecstatic (of course I had to remind him that when I’d had the idea myself a year ago and shared it with him I’d been ecstatic too). My Eric’s idea was to get some plain pavers that matched what was on the other side leading to the backyard and fill in the wasteland to allow us space to put a couple of chairs so that we could enjoy sitting outside again. As you can see in the top photo, there’s some good shade in this little corner too due to the tree and slight overhang from the roof. One of the things we had to keep in mind though is that since we rent our house, we didn’t want to install anything permanent (in case the owner didn’t like it), and we didn’t want to spend a lot of money on it.

We measured, we brainstormed, we priced the supplies and yesterday Eric brought home everything we needed. Supplies for this project came in at about $100.

stack of concrete pavers against the fence

This morning work got started and within a couple of hours we had a new patio space! It’s level, it matches with the walkway on the other side, and it’s doubled our outdoor living space.