Sometime last summer, Craig decided to take on the area under our deck. He had dreams of a DIY project that would involve turning it into a patio with nice stone pavers so we’d have a useable space in the backyard. Well…. about 1/2 way through the project, we realized that pavers were not the most economical way to go, so he started looking into concerte companies that could just pour a slab and finish the job. Here we are about a year later, and the project is now complete!!

The company Craig hired worked about 11 solid hours on pouring the concrete and creating a HUGE patio area that extends well past the right side of the deck above it. Here’s a progress shot, which includes lots of trash in our yard:: 

And here’s the finished product!! It looks so good, and I’m glad we went ahead and just paved it. Now we have a couple of (much easier) DIY projects in the works that include a hanging pallet bed of some sort, planters made out of old wooden wine crates, white lights being strung from the rafters, and a small wooden table/chairs. Hopefully by the spring, it’ll be a nice outdoor living space that we can use in addition to our deck for the many festive parties and group dinners we plan to have in years to come.

Craig found these guys in a trash pile in our neighborhood… he’s planning to stain them to match our deck/fence. I love the burned-in logo on the sides.

Possible placement… imagine some pretty mums overflowing from the crates.

And our newest addition — a windchime that my mom made for us with shells from the beach in St. Augustine. Love it!