backyard makeover - DIY crushed rock patio

So I'm a little behind on blogging about our backyard makeover that we completed in June - but better late than never!

We have a pretty awesome sized backyard. It was a blank slate of dead grass and an old funky shaped patio since we moved in. We still have the dead grass and funky patio, but we spruced it up a bit! We bought 7 yards of crushed rock, industrial weed block {from a yard sale for $2!!} and bribed my mom to come help, and got to work! Thanks Mom!

My mom hauling wheel barrow after wheel barrow load of rock to the backyard!

laying a whole-lotta weed block!

We found out about crushed rock from our neighbors who laid a crushed rock path to their backyard. We loved how it compacted down and the fact that you don't need a border like you do with other rock patios. This stuff compacts down and creates a hard surface and is a great alternative to laying stone or concrete, and way affordable!

All of the river rock and slate we were lucky enough to have already!

After 2 days of hard work, we now have an awesome backyard!!! I took these photos right after we finished in June, which happened to be a rainy day - go figure.

We built our fire pit off of ideas from Pinterest. We already had the fire bowl so we only had to buy stones. Here is a DIY from Lowes {here}

We hung patio lights {leftover from our wedding} across the full length of our backyard, it's magical at night!

I also updated our patio pillows and chair cushions. I few years back I had bought some super cheap chair cushions from IKEA, and by super cheap, I mean like $0.29! per pillow! They were sun faded, dirty, and the tufting had come out. I had leftover fabric {a target outdoor table cloth} from last year's patio pillow makeover so I covered them and added new tufting!

pretty cute!

I love our backyard! It's so nice having some nice landscaping and useable patio space! To see what our yard looked like last year, go {here}

Yard Projects

We had BIG plans for our backyard, and well we didn't quite get them all done, there's still time this summer - or we might just wait till next.. but here's a preview of what we've been up to in the yard.

{new fence!}

{painting our bird house to match the rest of the patio items}

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I found this glider while we were in Bend over Memorial Day dogsitting. My sister & I were on a coffee run and I spotted this driving by a yard sale. I think I said "TURN AROUND!" not expecting Cali to actually turn around, she did! (she is not a garage sale goer!) It was only $25 and a perfect addition to our patio! {see here for other chairs found last summer at a garage sale}

{before}

{I made patio pillows! Out of a clearance tablecloth from Target, linen napkins from InkWell, & a table runner I picked up last year on clearance at Z.Gallerie}

{i picked this metal butterfly up from an estate sale for $1, I thought it was cute}

 {slate that we got from a friend, we had plans to build a patio with it, but have decided that we don't know what we're doing and would rather just have a new concrete patio poured. We've used the slate in other areas now - I'll blog about that soon!}

This is the area we planned on laying the slate. Since our plans have changed it's just sand for now.
{free labor - aka mom & Barb! Thanks for your help!}

{the pots in the above picture - I spray painted yellow & white & planted Petunias and Begonias in them}

{I put together these hanging baskets. I love how awesome they are doing! the flowers started off very small}

 {a good friend gave us this hammock- we love it!}

 {finished patio pillows!}

{the same friend gave us these large planters. They already had the topiaries in them, then I planted the petunias around it. I'm debating whether or not to paint the pots white.}

{finished glider painted to match our other pieces! - not sure why I didn't get a close up, but you get the idea}

Our backyard is defiantly enjoyable and has come a long way since last summer, but our future plans include: 1. Getting a new concrete patio poured. 2. Building a new fence/gate on both sides of the house. 3. Building a fire pit out of the slate. 4. Going in with the neighbors to rebuild the last side of old fence we have left... Maybe next summer! :)