convert my backyard into an outdoor room

I should have marked this done 2 years ago ;-)

It’s time to re-attack it though. The outdoor area was looking lovely, but since then has started to show a lot of wear and tear, not to mention overgrowth of the gardens and habitation by about a million spiders and other creepy crawlies.

I won’t be able to do much on this one until after bub’s here, but I definitely want to get the area ship-shape again and able to be used as an outdoor play area.

Some of the smaller, easier tasks that need to be tackled to complete this:

- sweep / hose concrete area down
- prune hedges and tidy garden beds
- give potted palms and fig tree some TLC
- move the outdoor furniture back into place
- give the furniture and BBQ a good clean
- take down temporary clotheslines
- tidy up mirror ball and powercords
- tidy area under stairs
- mow grass and trim edges

The bigger or more costly tasks:

- get the pest man to spray the shed area for spiders and bugs
- put in a channel drain between the entertainment area and the house
- pave between the entertainment area and the house
- pave between the entertainment area and the rainwater tank
- pave pathway to clothesline

And a few finishing touches:

- candleabras
- new tablecloth/s
- new citronella candles
- throw rug for two seater

I’m sure there’s more tasks to add to these lists, will update as I think of them.

The entertainment area has really come together well. We’ve had a number of BBQ’s out there now and today I set up the laptop and used the area as an outdoor office. Very nice with the winter sun around me :)

We moved another table out there from under the house, it matches the one already there and when they’re pushed together they make a great 8 person dining setting.

We also scored some new plants today. There’s two palms and a ficcus. They’re all needing new pots, so the job for the weekend is to find some large blue pots that will match the house. Because they’re all large plants I’m going to sit them along one edge of the area to create a dividing wall.

My other plants are all doing well. I’ve got heaps of Bracyscome (Swan River Daisies) around the place and they’re flowering like crazy. They’re very cute and look very effective – the pale violet colour looks great against the house colours. I’m thinking of getting more to put in the front gardens. They seem to be very hardy and are native Australian plants, so should go great :)

I just want to put some finishing touches to the Entertainment area and I can mark this goal complete. The biggest thing is lighting. While it’s too cold at night still to spend much time out there after the sun goes down, as soon as spring arrives I can see it being a lovely area to relax in. I also want to get a power point put in so that I can hook up my mirror ball, it’s motor and a strobe light. Very cool for parties!

The Entertainment Area is looking pretty good. If you can imagine a 6m x 6m covered square just behind the house. It’s pretty plain still, but is rather like a large room without walls.

We’ve got the BBQ, a table and some directors chairs in there so far, and a little table and chairs in one corner in a kind of “morning tea” setting as well.

Today we spent buying and then planting a heap of shrubs in the garden beds along the house side. When they grow they’ll create a nice privacy screen on the sunnier side and provide a bit of colour against the stairs on the other.

The next project is to get the side garden done and looking nice. We’re going to put some nice shrubs in there as well to provide a privacy screen between us and the next door neighbours swimming pool. At the moment the area is a real mess and an eyesore. I’m looking forward to being able to look out at a nice neat garden!