Hey there, friends! Hope you all are doing well and enjoying the weather. It has been beautiful here in Southern California. In my last post, I mentioned we recently had a few new and unexpected things occur for our family. One of those things, though, includes a backyard renovation!!! And gosh, if you would have asked me a year ago, “what’s your next project for the house?”, I would have replied, “adding ceiling lights, new windows for the whole house and the downstairs half bath.” Ha! Boy, was I far off. Instead, we are dreaming of a backyard paradise. . .
How did this occur, you may be wondering. . .
Some of you may be wondering, “how did you go from interior updates and upgrade ideas to a backyard renovation?” Well, I was surprised with it, too!
Earlier this year, Bryan was at work for a while (more like the several weeks kind of “a while”) and quite a number of the guys he was working with or changing shifts with had recently renovated their yards and they would chat it up. These conversations really got his wheels turning about how we, as a family, want to enjoy the space in our backyard and what we are wanting to do with it. Which, by the way, our yard is a current ocean of grass and some cement. We have a few trees and a patio cover. It’s a good size, it is just not anything exciting or intriguing. . . YET!!
My Backyard Paradise VS. His Backyard Paradise
My Backyard Vision
You can imagine the excitement I had when Bryan initially told me that he wanted to do some things to the backyard. I was beyond thrilled! An outdoor fireplace with cozy seating surrounding it, a dining area to enjoy meals outside, an above ground hot tub to take a dip in year round, some open area for Madison and the pups to run around and play, and a spot for some lounge chairs for some sun bathing have always been something I wanted. A little bit of everything, you know?
4. Fireplace with Contrast Colors | 5. Dreamy Textured Backyard via Pinterest | 6. Bright and Airy Dining Space
Okay, so my vision board may have some extravagant inspirations, but you have to start somewhere, right?
His Backyard Vision
Apparently, Bryan had a vision of his own. . . Usually, he lets me design and pick everything out, so I had assumed it would be the same with the backyard. But. . . I was wrong! And of course he was justified to have his own ideas of what he wanted to see in the backyard, as well. He will be back there enjoying it, too.
The vision Bryan had was simple. Simple, but massive. It was going to take not just some space, but a LOT of space of what I had already organized into different areas of the intriguing and inviting backyard I was imagining. What he wanted was a pool! And not just a “spool,” a full-sized legit pool. Yeah. . . I wasn’t going for it. The hot tub feature was supposed to be sufficient for this water loving hubby of mine, but apparently it wasn’t enough. Haha.
Compromising to Create a Joint Backyard Paradise
After going back and forth in multiple conversations, I was persuaded to get the pool. Bryan brought up some great points of getting one. One, of which, I resonated so well with: MEMORIES.
In my childhood home, our backyard had space to run around, as well as, a nice sized pool to cool off in afterwards. We grew up with countless warm summer days in that pool and hot tub. Along with those countless warm summer days, we had also made countless memories to go with those wonderful days. That is something that we want for our daughter, Madison; A place in our home that creates enjoyable experiences and memories for her, our family and our friends.
Now, to combine our visions to get what we both want. . .
The next thing I had to figure out: How to fit a pool in our backyard, while still getting the the things I want back there, too? It will take some re-imagination and re-configuration. And, although, I didn’t initially want our own full-sized pool, I am excited about it now that I have had time to process the idea of it.
Indeed, the convenience of simply walking into our own backyard to take a dip on a hot summer day will be so nice. For instance, there will not be anymore packing up all the towels, the sunscreen and the toys into the car to drive to the HOA just for an hour swim. Of course, not that there is anything wrong with that. We have been doing it for the last five years ourselves. But, it will be much easier with our busy lifestyle to walk straight into the backyard pool, even if for just 30 minutes of swimming.
Want to Watch the Progress?
Follow me @JenniferRiegelman on Instragram for all my pool updates in my stories. You can watch from the beginning under my Story Highlight “Pool.”