Backyard Renovation Inspiration and Tour

Some of the first renovations we really want to tackle is in the backyard.  Normally we would wait since it's not an immediate need, but the fence is something we have to have soon.  Molly is a wanderer.  She likes to explore, which sometimes includes walking the whole neighborhood.  She is fine if you stand on the deck and talk her through the whole going to the bathroom situation, but if you let her out and go inside she'll be making her way through the woods and around the neighborhood.

Let's take a tour of our backyard.  We do have a decent size grassy area in the yard off of the deck areas, but as you can see there is a big slope into the woods. It's great for water run off, but not so great for children who roll easily. 

 

We have 2 gigantic decks that were already existing when we moved in.   The bottom deck is actually off the walk out basement level and there is a false concrete area so when you are looking up at the house from the backyard it looks like 4 stories (so let's just say it's steep).  One of the plans for down the road is to screen in one of the decks. Although we'd have to go downstairs to enjoy it, it'll be much easier to screen in the lower deck.

 

Here is our view from the grassy area into the woods.  It's a very peaceful serene view.

I really don't want to block any of the woods so we're going to install a black aluminum fencing, similar to what you'd see around pools. I like that we won't have to stain the fence and maintain it like you would a wood fence. It's more expensive, but we really don't have a huge area to worry about. I really just want to make our backyard as useable as possible.  Another thing we want to make sure to do is to put steps from the side of the house all the way down to easily access from the driveway/side yard.   I found some inspiration photos via pinterest that I want to show  you.

 

Going, Going, Gone?

So I know I've been MIA lately so I thought I'd explain what's been going on. Of course Max still takes up a majority of my time (and Mom's), but we decided to try to sell our house. We put a bid on a short sale house that is much bigger that we can expand into and build out a basement apartment for Gigi to live in. We are playing the waiting game on that one (could be a few more months to hear if they've accepted the offer) so in the mean time we were pondering renting vs. selling and decided to see if we could sell it. 

Sign went up!

Before we could put the house up we did a TON of things to get the house in order. 

 New mulch and flowers

 Repainting of some walls and bookshelves

 Pressure washing the driveway and walkway

 New back door and flooring fixing

Yes, I did fix that paint 

 And fresh paint for the front door, what a big difference that really did make

Well, all the hard work has paid off... The first people to come look at the house wanted to buy it for full price (after a few back and forth negotiations)! We are paying closing costs (and realtor fees of course) for them, but we are excited about it. We hate to spend any money out of pocket, but are glad we won't have to carry 2 houses and the deal we're getting on a new house wins out.  We may be homeless for a few months (get ready Frank and Cora), but it will be worth it. Inspection is sunday so we hope all will go well and we can continue moving forward. They want us out Sept. 15.

Decision

Michelle here again.
For those of you that don't know, we had our house custom built here in Abilene. We always had an upstairs bonus room that was unfinished. The builder wanted something outrageous like $15,000 to finish it at the time the house was built (no thank you!). We've went back and forth trying to decide if it's worth finishing it. The only reason we're thinking about it again now is because we're most likely going to be moving in the springtime. The Abilene house market isn't as bad as most places, but it's also not thriving either. We've had houses in our neighborhood on the market for quite some time, too. We have been pricing it out and we think we can have it done for about $2500 (we're going to get all the materials and do some work ourselves then contract out things that are more difficult). We know we're not going to be able to recoup that amount, but it may be a factor of if we can sell our house in a timely manner. What would you rather have, a 3 bedroom 2 bath with a FINISHED bonus room OR a 3 bedroom 2 bath with an UNfinished bonus room?? Unless they want to custom do it to fit their needs, most everyone would probably choose the finished route. New homes are being built around here and they all have 4 bedrooms it seems. Our house always feels so big because we have a VERY open concept with vaulted ceilings, but no 4th bedroom.

down the hall from the front door

biggest selling feature- our spacious master bath

cathedral kitchen ceilings- very open (living room behind)

Our builder had done everything he could right up to the point before finishing the bonus room. It's pre-wired for electric, A/C is run but not hooked up, etc. So I think we've decided that it's for the benefit of the house if we go ahead and finally FINISH IT. If we can't sell out house and we have to rent it out, we can get more rent if it's finished because it could be a fourth bedroom. What do you think?? We only wish we decided to finish it sooner so we could enjoy it more! We have an old arcade machine up there and an air hockey table. We're going to move my dusty elliptical up there, too. If we were staying longer we would convert some into a movie room, but I don't think we'll bother doing too much. Here are picture sof the unfinished bonus room.

It's the room above the garage (excuse the yard, this pic is from the building stages)

If we really go through with it, I'll hijack Jen's blog again and show you the process/results. Can't wait for Jen's kitchen renovation, I think they're putting the counter tops in tomorrow!! YAY Jen! I think I'll probably do a quick post tomorrow, so it's not good bye yet :)