I remember when we were trying to figure out which contractor to go with for our interior renovations, we really had no clue what we were looking for…. we received an initial quote from one contractor (who we were fully prepared to go with) and it was basically garbage. And when we asked for a lot of clarification he couldn’t provide any… we ended up with a contractor who was initially good (I mean, he wasn’t the friendliest guy… sort of huffed and puffed when we would make changes… complained a lot…) and then he ended up stealing from us (towards the end) and it was an unpleasant situation all around….

All of that to say, by the time we got to renovating the backyard we had a pretty clear picture as to what we were looking for in a contractor. The questions to ask, the general gut feeling to look for, etc. Luckily, our backyard renovations have been infinitely smoother than our interior, and for that I am truly grateful….

Yet, the two biggest lesson I’ve learned in the 2.5 years we’ve spent renovating this fixer upper is that your style is your style, and that sometimes living in a space for a little while is the best route.

Let me clarify. Regarding your style being your style. I think it’s great to allow yourself to accept influence when it comes to design tips… maybe how a rug should be configured, choices in materials, things like that… but when it comes to how you want something to look aesthetically, trust yourself. For me, I’m the one living in the house… there have been several times where I stuck to my decisions against advice from professionals and ended up being so happy that I did. I get it. There are “design” rules, but at the end of the day, if it doesn’t sit right with you, trust yourself…

And for the second lesson, yes, sometimes living in a home before it’s perfectly finished is the best route. There are so many things in our home that aren’t complete, yet had we done them before we moved into the house, I don’t think we would have been happy with them. Living in the house has allowed us to figure out what is both functional/practical and aesthetically pleasing to our family. It’s taken us forever to decide how we actually want to finish off the living room space, but only living in the home could really help us decide the best use of space. Granted, we didn’t work with a designer who could sort of figure that out for us, but still, I do think there is something to be said about slow renovations.

Switching gears slightly, we did recently finish (well, it’s 90% complete, just waiting on the pergola to be installed which should be today or tomorrow) our backyard… it’s been a year in the making, starting with small transformations and culminating in bigger additions like the pool and our outdoor kitchen/fireplace, and I had several questions come in regarding the process…. so I’m sharing the Q+A below. Hopefully I’ll be able to get a full blog post up with photos within the next couple of weeks!
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BACKYARD RENOVATION Q+A

Q: How much was everything?

This was possibly the most asked question. I hesitate to share exactly what we spent for several reasons, one of them being that prices will vary depending on a number of factors… where you live (cost of labor… our friends in AZ got an identical pool and it cost about 25% less than ours), size of job, materials used, etc…. so below I am going to share a range of costs that we received from several estimates

Pool: $60-100K- this all depends on size of pool, if you want a jacuzzi, how deep you want the pool, lighting in the pool, automation for pool features from your phone…. I know some people are putting in “spools” which are smaller pools and they cost much less.

Fireplace: $8-12K again, depends on materials you’re using to construct it, access to gas (if you want a gas fireplace), and accessories

Pergola: $10-16k- prices depend on how custom you want it to be and the materials you use. We are using alumawood and it’s not “custom.”

Outdoor BBQ: $6-9k- again, depending on materials, size, and also the accessories you choose to purchase.

Turf: Depends on the type of turf you opt to use, but ours was $8 sq ft.

Q. When doing a larger scale renovation, how do you pick a contractor, designer, and project manager?

We never had an overall project manager for our backyard… we managed and coordinated based on the estimate completion time frame we were given from each contractor… and we didn’t hire a designer. For design, I just found inspiration photos on Pinterest and showed that to the contractors.

For our backyard we vetted out the contractors… we had several quotes, called references, and asked to see photos of projects they had completed. We’ve been super happy with everyone we used for our backyard.

Q. What brand did you go with for your turf? What’s the maintenance and lifespan of the turf? Does it get hot? And does it feel grass-like?

We went with playgound/multipurpose with tiger cool for the turf and love the color and length of the grass (looks very similar to what we have in the front yard). The lifespan of the turf is 20 years and the company we used provided us with a lifetime warranty (we went with Grizzly Turf). It gets warm, but it hasn’t been super hot here yet so I’m not sure if it will get too hot for bare-feet. We were told that simply spraying it down will cool it off (which is the tiger cool component)… and it does feel grass-like… maybe not as squishy though.

Q. Honesty as to if anything was cheaper because you are an influencer.

No, we paid full price for everything and only share a company if we had a positive experience with them.

Q. How do you handle a dog going to the bathroom with turf?

We have Captain pretty much potty trained to go on the side of our house (which is dirt)… or he goes in the planters or front yard. The company we used for the turf put down a deodorizer to address that, but I don’t want to chance anything, haha.

Q. Are the BBQ countertops poured concrete? What are the pros and cons?

Countertops are poured concrete and then polished so they’re very easy to clean off. Pros are that they’re easy to clean (like I just said), and very durable… won’t stain or crack due to the heat of the appliances. The polishes come in different color options. Cons are that they aren’t “fancy” (we were highly advised against a granite or quartz countertop).

Q. Did you start with a budget and did the renovation go accordingly?

After the major interior renovation we did, we learned that we needed to be VERY specific with what we wanted so that the quote would be comprehensive. That being said, we had a budget, and with a few design changes (that we made) to the pool, stayed within budget for everything.

Q. What kind of plants did you put in?

We did the landscaping of our backyard in phases, starting around this time last year. But here is a breakdown of the plants we have:

By the pool and our back fence: Bougainvillea
In planters: Lavender, White Iceberg Roses, Olive Tree
BBQ Planter: Chalk Stick Succulents, Pink Echeveria Succulent

Q. Dimensions of your property + backyard.

Our property size is 11,500 sq ft, but uncertain as to the exact dimensions of just the backyard.

Q. Why did you go with turf over real grass?

For several reasons. First, we planted real grass when we first moved in 2.5 years ago and there were always spots where the grass just struggled to grow. Then when we got the trampoline and swing-set the grass was always dead underneath those spots (and we figured we will have those “toys” for at least the next 5-10 years)…. Then when we put in the pool the grass just completely died since the entire backyard was basically a construction zone… and when we decided to put pavers around the pool with the design of grass between the pavers we were told there was no way the grass would survive constantly getting chlorine splashed on it. We also have a very large backyard area, and water conservation was a priority as well since it seems as if every other year CA is in a drought and we can end up only being able to water our grass about 2-3 days a week.

Q. How do you protect your outdoor furniture?

We use these covers for our loungers by the pool and you can find covers on amazon for all your patio furniture (the ones we have for our patio are custom… but I wouldn’t go that route again since they’re a super tight fit and ended up ripping… I think Amazon ones are just as good). We cover them whenever they’re not in use and in the winter bring in the cushions so they don’t get mildewy.

Q. What is the fireplace made of?

Here is how the fireplace was constructed:

Cinder Blocks as the base
Smooth Stucco to cover cinder blocks, and then painted to match our house
Tan Brick Tile laid in a herringbone patterns
15, 24″ cream fireballs
Reclaimed Wood mantle (from Austin’s Hardware… local shop)

Q. What brand are the up-lights around the backyard?

AQ Lighting brass up-lights in various sizes throughout the backyard.

Q- There were a lot of pool specific questions so I’m adding a link here to all the info about our pool…