Wow. I can’t believe it’s been a year since we started the landscape project…we honestly had no idea it would take this long. You can read about why we started with our yard here.

To be honest, it is still not done! But really all that’s left is finish work, and we had quite the punch list. Unfortunately, the yard is now primarily being used for storage and construction tools for the rest of the renovation so it has been hard to capture the details. I am however looking forward to finally enjoying our pool again and dreaming up summer barbecues with friends and family over the summer!

The plan for the backyard was to activate an outdoor living area (we left our existing pool location) while energizing the garden. The biggest thing we did outside of irrigation (which was a major undertaking!) was hardscaping. We had brick, mismatched tile, and old school aggregate throughout the lot. Overall, we wanted a clean slate so that the yard and planting would really pop (and we will be painting the house a soft white).

With simplicity in mind, I chose a concrete paver for our paths and patio. Between the step stones we planted thyme to soften it up and add to the charming cottage feel. While the main patio is a bit “cold” right now, it provides me a neutral palette that I’m excited to warm up with potted flowers and bistro chairs. It’s also relatively easy to clean; though, that is one thing we learned - the lighter concrete really shows shoe prints and dirt. So far we’ve power washed it with success, and I bought my husband a power scrubber for Christmas for future maintenance.

We also replaced all the landings with a beautiful gray veined stone from Italy. It compliments the concrete pavers but adds a bit of detail to the house - I’m obsessed and it’s lightyears better than the green and yellow camo-looking tile we had in the front previously! We ran into some issues with our first order. Many of the pieces were cracked or had a lot of filler (where they fill in deep veins with a manmade material). It took months to replace the order and additional time to cut and install it. In fact, the landing near the pool was just recently completed! I’m loving how it turned out though, and think it will look even better once the exterior is painted.

Things really took shape with our wood covered pergola. It’s essentially the heart of the yard and where I see us spending the majority of our time. Similar to our house palette, we went with cream, black and wood tones. Due to the size of the pergola and being in California, we were required to heavily engineer this so it is built with steel beams. Crazy right?! We designed the outdoor kitchen to open up towards our back landing with the newly installed La Cantina door for true indoor/outdoor living. Our countertop stone is Taj Mahal quartzite (we currently have this in our kitchen and specified it again for other areas). It’s durable, lasting, and thankfully our fabricator did a beautiful job installing it. Within the island, we have a generous bar area and added new Lynx appliances. I love that our grill has a rotisserie - we used it for our turkey this past year for Thanksgiving and it turned out great!

The focal point of this area is our gorgeous outdoor fireplace. We went through a design iteration with a fire pit, but this was something I dreamed up and really fell in love with (thank you to my amazing husband for making it happen!). The fireplace is stucco, like our house, and has a beautiful soft curvature to it. It’s minimal with subtle detail - just my style. The paint color is White Duck by Sherwin Williams, and we plan to use this for the exterior of the house as well. My husband requested a big wood-burning flame so while we have a gas burning feature, we also have the ability to burn wood. The fireplace adds charm and coziness, and we can’t wait to lounge in this space! I just received my new Pottery Barn outdoor couches, and we incorporated a teak table that we sourced locally and these dreamy cane chairs by McGee & Co. for outdoor dining. I am still working on a coffee table, possible cushions for the seat wall, and bar stools, but so looking forward to outdoor entertaining.

Speaking of entertaining… we went back and forth on whether or not to have an outdoor TV. Ultimately, we decided to go for it… my only request was that it would be aesthetically pleasing. My husband found an automated TV lift that drops from the ceiling (or in this case our pergola roof). And I have to say, it is pretty amazing! Our pergola contractor did a great job working with us to build this into the space as well as build a custom cover for it. When it’s up, it blends right into the wood. I highly recommend this if you have the space and budget! I see many a football game and tailgating party out here and it makes me happy.

Honestly, our backyard is an outdoor haven. We are so fortunate! As I mentioned, we had an existing pool so rather than reconfigure it, we replaced the coping and updated the plaster bottom to StoneScapes by NPT Pool. Updating the materials had a major impact, as did adding lawn surrounding the pool which so far I love. Sunbathing or reading a book now feels like you’re at a beautiful park with a bright blue body of water.

Another fun feature is our new outdoor shower. Originally we had intended for this to be a dog bath area (ha!) but it morphed into more of a human focused one. I went with a minimal cedar design for a Costa Rican vibe, and we splurged on the hardware since we wanted it to last. The other thing we did was to build wood coverings for our pool equipment and our trash bins. The best feature is the barn style doors that slide open. It saved us space and just makes it easier.

Obviously there was a big focus on the backyard, but the front yard got a makeover as well! We spent a lot of time on the planting since we really didn’t have much before (there were a lot of heavily manicured bushes that I never liked). Options were somewhat limited considering we needed deer resistant plants, so I took pictures around the neighborhood and looked to my Pinterest boards for inspiration. I wanted a clean palette (shocker) with lots of green and some white / neutral flowers. I would have loved to incorporate more hydrangea or roses but they would have gotten demolished by the deer. Instead, we planted a mix of lamb’s ear, lavender and a red grass along the front border. Closer to the house we planted white lantana and white camellias with shrubs. We also have 4 new forest pansy redbud trees that I’m so excited to see when they finally bloom! They’re not evergreen, but they have the most amazing leaves in the fall which is one of my favorite things about them.

Investing in our yard was a big priority for us. Though the majority of the overhaul is complete, the hard work and fun doesn’t end here. I’m looking forward to getting into gardening and adding more charm over the years as it grows and evolves with our family (she-shed in my future perhaps!?). I already love harvesting flowers and fresh lemons from the yard to use in our home. Having this space is such a respite from the everyday, and we look forward to the many memories we’ll create here.