We built our house 2 years ago, and now that the ground has settled, we felt like it was safe build a patio. As with most other things that you start from scratch, the possibilities are endless. Here’s a look at our blank slate…
Several of our neighbors have installed patios over the past couple of years and we’ve watched and made a few lists of what we liked and what ideas we want to incorporate of our own. We narrowed down our list and went to the Home and Garden Show 2 weeks ago, to talk to some landscaping companies and landscape architects. We got some catalogs and immediately started picking out stone for the floors and walls. After we picked out everything we wanted, Greg ran the numbers and as usual, my taste tends to be too expensive. I’ve got champagne taste on a beer budget y’all! So, maybe we need to compromise on the stone and ah-hem, the size (football field) of our new patio, but I think we can work it out. Here are the things I know that I want….
Fire
Grill Surround
We have a natural gas grill that we bought at an auction 2 years ago. I really want to utilize it so I’ve asked the landscape companies that we’re getting quotes from to build a surround to encase it and potentially add a small granite ledge for extra counter space. This pic below looks like what I’m going for, but without the ledge.
Privacy
Our house is on a high-profile lot which means that EVERYONE CAN SEE US!!! It’s not terrible because we honestly love our neighbors, however, most people would say that they would like a little privacy when they’re outside. We plan to get some privacy by planting some evergreen trees on one side of our house, but on the other side, where we may (someday down the road) have a hot tub, we need something more structured like this and I would like to add some climbing, flowering vine like clematis to soften the look.
Furniture
Although I love the look of Adirondack chairs, they aren’t super comfortable for sitting for long periods of time. Ideally, I would like something with removable cushions. If we can’t find furniture that’s somewhat affordable, we will probably start shopping auctions, and with those, you take what you can get. We’ll see…I kind of like the challenge of finding something at an auction. Here are some of my ideas for furniture.
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