DIY: Backyard

I WISH, WISH, I would have taken some before shots of our mess of a backyard. First off, there was no backyard. It was a pile of dirt, a broken sidewalk and a dead orange tree, enclosed by a tall wooden fence. It was dusty and dirty and where we kept our four gigantic trash and recycle bins. We tiptoed around back there, as if the trash had spilled out over the edges of the bins and onto the 200 square foot patch of space.

When the Bills moved in upstairs, we vowed to turn the dump into something, even if we didn't know exactly what that something looked like. So we put together our ideas, money and muscles and turned our dusty mess into a little oasis. We've already enjoyed countless fires, a few meals and the kids explore it on a daily basis. The work took the better part of two days and cost a total of $115 per family (pavers, diamond blade, sod, chiminea, shovel, gypsum, sand, lights, compost).

Here is the finished product...