We’ve been busy with a lot of outdoor projects around our house the past couple of weeks. With the awesome weather that has settled in here in Florida, the family has been spending a lot of time outside playing, gardening, and relaxing in the yard. One thing we were sorely lacking was a cozy space to relax when out there. We have a decent sized yard with zero character but have slowly been trying to remedy that over the past 2 years. A lot of things were higher on the priority list until now. Hubby and I sat down to try to decide what we wanted to do for seating and comfort while outside. We are in the middle of working on a pagoda further out in the yard but we wanted something closer to the house and that would make use of the space off of our french door. And so our patio was born. Before, there was just a lot of dirt, weeds, and cracking, crumbling, collapsing concrete block that appears to have perhaps at one time served the purpose of being a patio. 45 years ago. Not attractive or functional.
So hubby started by pouring concrete
We weren’t sure what we wanted to do over it yet and were looking for deals on pavers and price shopping around for the different options we could go with. We honestly thought we would just leave the concrete as is for a while until we found just the thing we wanted. But our doggies had other plans. Not thinking clearly, hubby let them outside the other back door the evening after pouring the concrete. We woke up to a patio full of puppy paw prints! Ahhhh…cute, but so not cute. I headed out the next day to check out tile and pavers at Home Depot and decided on porcelain tile. Hubby and Monkey got right to work on laying it down.
She did a fabulous job, really. I am quite impressed with her and this was just another project to add to the long list of things she has helped with. It makes me so happy and proud to see my kids learning new skills and learning to work hard and take pride in that work from such a young age.
Here is the not quite finished product but finished enough to enjoy
I snagged that patio table and chairs at a yard sale over the weekend for $20. We were looking at ones on Craigslist for $200-$500 so I was very happy! It was one of those serendipitious moments when I woke up early before the kiddos, quickly scanned the garage sale listings in our area on Craigslist, saw a 5 family sale across town and crossed my fingers there would be a patio set and headed over there. I was one of the first to arrive and I stole their seating that they were planning to use for the day 
This photo more accurately shows the true color of the tile. I am going to make cushions for the chairs soon.
Here it is after I put out some flowers and a big potted plant in the corner. I still have lots of sprucing to do.
Wow! Looks fabulous! Great deal on the patio set.
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Awesome – $20 for that patio set rocks! You saved some big bucks
Mike
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I love those tiles, great colour!
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oh! I love it! I have wanted to find a table like that forever, I just don’t have that garage sale spirit…need to find it though! How cozy and what a great place to be
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Those tiles look really great! Fantastic deal on the patio set!!
Manuela
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Bravo all around! Congratulations on your new outdoor living area!
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Looks fantastic Emily!!!
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I’m so relieved to see someone else who has lived in their house two years and is finally getting around to seriously fixing up the backyard.
Our neighbors who moved in 6 mos before us are lilght years ahead. Of cours we do all our own work, so that makes a huge difference.
My husband is pouring more concrete tomorrow and as long as the neighbor dog stays wayyyy on their end (and it doesn’t rain as it is threatening to do today) of the street we’ll be find. =)
Do you think those porcelein tiles would hold up in the drastic cold? I love concrete cuz it’s not so hot (unlike a wooden deck) and there’s very little upkeep. It looks “clean” all the time.
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The patio looks great! I loooove good garage sale deals! :0)
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Nice! You guys rock. Looks great.
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Those dogs did you a sneaky favor–I love the tile. Looks great and adds a lot of warmth to the area. And whatever that giant tropical-looking plant is, it’s pretty impressive!
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Looking good. I like how the tiles bring a warmth to the whole look/feel.
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Very sharp! This type of project is an inspiration to a lot of people. Thanks for sharing.
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Oh my goodNESS! You got the deal of the summer on that patio set! $20???? High five for you!!
Your patio looks great and I love the liberal use “child labour”!!! My daughter is at the “I want to help” stage too and if it were daddy, she would have been “soooo in there” just like your daughter “helping”!! So sweet!
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How my goodness, the BEAUTY! You are amazing! Your daughter is precious.
Happy weekend,
xo
Melissa
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Ugh. that should be OH MY GOODNESS. Not how. Time for me to go night-night…
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Now I want to go to garage sales! I love to find deals like that. Although at my house the chairs would turn into forts and rocket needing to be gathered from across the yard.
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Oh, I just finished my patio project too & Darla featured us both! Love what you’ve done. That porcelain tile is just great and good for you on the patio set. I snagged a teak set for $20 too!! Love those bargains!
Rhoda
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Wonder if those porcelain tiles would work inside our kitchen for flooring ?
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Looks really terrific! And when you can get the whole family involved, even better! Can’t wait to see pix of the pagoda.
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