PLANNING

Outdoor living most certainly is where it's at.  For many years, Mike and I had nothing but grass in our back yard.  A product of new home construction and a limited budget for projects.  Picnic table on grass (mud) progressed to a 4x4 block pad to hold picnic table progressed to ... oh, did I mention we hung out in our front yard all the time!  Yes, barbecues were held in the driveway ... nice.

But finally we progressed to an outdoor living project.

I searched out landscape architects and landscape contractors.  Architects seemed expensive & contractors also wanted to include all plantings (Mike & I are incapable of a lot but we can paint & plant).  After a semi-exhaustive search on the Internet, I found a company that did mainly hardscape work and also design work.  Bingo.

My first consult with them took place during a torrential downpour.  Kind of hard when your focus is outside.  But within the first five minutes I knew we were on the same page and they would be able to provide exactly what we were looking for:

* two separate areas: a place for eating & a place for sitting
* area for grill & serving table for parties
* more MODERN design (he kind of chuckled)
* muddy grey color (he raised an eyebrow on this one)

Here is what they offered and what ultimately upped our budget:

* design service
* cool walls & built in planter
* fire pit
* lights

The next step was for them to present a design and a cost.  When we met to see the design, they also spray painted an outline in the backyard which gave us scale and perspective.  Love it.  The design sketch is below.  Stay tuned for photos of the finished product.

Tracy