A clean slate

Well we basically have everything cleared out now, and it is SO. MUCH. SPACE!  It’s amazing how much room we have back there now that the deck, hot tub and garage are all gone.

can you believe there was a deck and garage hiding all this space?!

Having everything out has made me realize how much additional living space we could have if we added on to the house!  I think that’s the long-term priority, but given how much these bids for the outside were, I think it will be many years before something like that would be in reach.  So…that means that we want a nice outdoor space, but don’t want to invest a lot of money on something that will (hopefully) get ripped up in a few years.

The new plan is a scaled-back version of the original and swaps the side where we park.

So from here, we’ve still got a lot of work ahead of us:

• Re-build deck and add new stairs and railing
• Build new fence and gate
• Break out concrete, add drainage (just in case), build retaining wall, fill with dirt and plant garden and raised beds
• Add irrigation and lighting
• Repair and stain concrete patio

We’ve actually got someone coming today to break out the concrete and dig us fence post holes.  The deck and fence supplies are also being delivered today so we’ll have our work cut out for us this weekend!
P.S. Does this look like a raised planter on its side to anyone else?  🙂 Maybe we’ll get a free-cycled planter out of this old deck!