It’s finally here! Just under 2 months after we started the garden project and we are finished (well no project is ever completely finished in my eyes, even as we completed I stood back and thought, yep there are some things I would tweek, but easy fixes none the less!) But the big tasks are done, we have worked our socks off getting this done all by ourselves, spending near enough every evening and weekend on it solidly for two months… so here’s to hoping that this heat wave lasts a little bit longer because I’d really like for us to actually be able to enjoy the space properly in relaxation mode rather than in sweltering labour mode!
The whole garden project has involved lots of smaller (but still significant) projects, starting with the patio flooring which used to be a dull bricked area (you can see before photos on my Modern Garden Makeover Plans post , and incase you missed the blog post on our outdoor tiling project then you can read all about that process here, but they have completely changed the space – big time. Next up was to start prepping for the pond to go in where there was previously a woodchip/flowerbed area – which was a waste of the space to be honest. Putting a pond in here has just opened the space up even more – but there’s a whole blog post coming on that so stay tuned! The next thing to get on with was to take up all the slabs from the top tier of the garden which we then replaced with gravel and wow what a difference this has made – you can see the full top garden patio area makeover over here.
Lastly, the icing on the cake, new fencing. I’ve dreamt of having slatted fencing for years. Granted, it’s you will typically see this type of contemporary fencing in much more urban settings, slatted much higher, but we have already transformed our space from twee to modern and I felt that the picket fencing needed to go – it hasn’t gone gone don’t worry – we are re-using it around the front of the house around our chicken pen! We obviously didn’t want to block out our view so we kept the fence the same height as before, we re-used the concrete posts that were already in the ground from the pickett fencing and just screwed wooden posts to the front of them. Actually fitting the slatted battens was a relatively easy and quick process once we got going and I couldn’t be happier with the overall finished look. I love that there’s the spacing between each batten so it blocks the view even less. Plus we have found that since finishing, the direction that we laid the tiles along with the horizontal slatted fencing has made the space look bigger than it is which is always a plus!
Oh the other thing I should mention is lighting. We made a big effort to add different lighting elements to the garden which is something I thought was totally unnecessary a few months ago… it’s a good job Matt badgered me about it and insisted on putting various outdoor sockets in because I completely changed my mind as time went on – now we have lighting above the pergola, various lamps, wall lights at the top of the house, lights up the steps and down lights along the slatted fencing and although that sounds quite a lot, all the different elements work well together and once it gets dark out it’s very romantic out there, especially the lights reflecting off the new pond – late night photos coming very soon over on Instagram… I’m officially a fan of outdoor lighting!
So what do you think of the new look? It’s come quite a long way from being dog kennels just over 4 years ago hasn’t it! I just LOVE it and it feels so good knowing that we did it ourselves. Big thanks to my other half for being born with the same work ethic as me and powering through every day to get this project done so we can enjoy it. Did someone say Pimms? Oh Matt’s on Instagram now too if you fancy following along on the behind the scenes of our DIY jobs as well as some of his own! You can find him at @onthegramhandyman LOL. He was really irritated that @instagramhandyman was already taken…
I’m going to let the photos do the the rest of the talking as that is definitely what you are here to see (snd I don’t blame you, I haven’t shut up about this damn garden for months!) I’ve linked (hopefully) everything at the bottom of this blog post but please let me know in the comments below if you have a question and I’ll get back to you ASAP!
Also – I will be filming a tour of the whole garden space very soon for on my Youtube Channel – I really wanted to get the video live before the blog post but editing videos takes so much longer and I just wanted to share the space with you ASAP so this was the quickest solution! But yeah, video tour coming real soon!
LIVING
Portside 2-Piece Sectional Outdoor Sofa
Porcelain Constellation Hurricane Lamps
Hanging Garden Chair + Metal Hanging Frame
DINING & ENTERTAINING
Dining Bench Set – bought from Cox & Cox a few years ago, re-painted this year with Sandtex Smokey Grey
LIGHTING
OTHER
Outdoor Floor Tiles – you can read all about our garden tiling journey HERE
Slatted Fencing – we bought our fencing from Silva Timber but the only reason I am even bothering to mention them is because I know some people are bound to ask. We bought individual battens and fitted the fencing ourselves from this company, I will always be completely honest about products and services and I have to say that we found their service to be particularly poor. The fencing arrived late, some product arrived damaged (a large amount of the battens arrived marked with blue paint and we were told that we would have to sand this off), they sent the wrong items which delayed our project a week and their customer service was simply awful so I simply cannot recommend them as a company. I would encourage you to shop elsewhere if you were looking for slatted fencing/cladding etc.
Disclaimer: A HUGE thank you to the brands that helped to sponsor this project, West Elm, Cox &Cox, Wayfair, Lights4Fun, Gravelmaster, Garden Trading, Maisons du Monde & Sandtex. I could not be happier with everything and as always I only work with brands that I love and products that I would recommend.
Simply stunning. All your hard work payed off and the heatwave is still on for you to enjoy it! I love your pond and my fave items are the outdoor lamps – how cool! X
Well done Olivia! It’s come such a long way! Now both enjoy it!
You have sparked my motivation to renovate my garden! mini project for me is what i’m calling it..
Your garden is simply stunning, garden of dreams.
Sit back, relax and enjoy all your hard work you’ve done!
It looks absolutely GORGEOUS! Love what you have both achieved – such a transformation in such a short time! Love it! Now when can I come round for a Pimms?! 😉 xxx