Hello, hello! It’s Friday, so you know what that means! It’s time for another Summer home tour, but today we are going to see a tour that is a little different from our regular tours. This next guest spends most of her summer days out in her yard and has done some AMAZING projects to make her outdoor space her summer home. Please welcome Rob…
…from Redo It Yourself Inspirations. If you are ever in need of some paint technique inspiration with a high quality touch of class, you will want to explore her incredible blog. Shall we continue? Great. Let’s go!
Hello friends! I’m so thrilled to be visiting Michele’s blog today. She always has clever and pretty ideas to share. It’s so exciting to join other talented bloggers on her Summer Home Tour Series.
I blog at Redo It Yourself Inspirations about home and garden DIY, crafts, repurposing, restorations and other thrifty posts.
Today I’m sharing our outdoor living space because it’s where I’ve been devoting so many home projects since we moved into our fixer upper home. It’s also where we spend most of our time in the very short summers here in the Saratoga area of New York.
The front became a garden entrance with a little pond and waterfalls. It gets decorated for each holiday, but summer flower arranging is my favorite kind of creating here.
Especially when I include blue hydrangeas.
I don’t usually put pinks into the theme, but I did this year because this hydrangea is a vibrant one.
While at the garden entrance, a glimpse of the side gardens are showing. It exhibits rhododendrons, lilies, a few varieties of sedum, lavender, bridal wreath, trumpet vines and plenty of evergreen. It also contains my toy horse into garden sculpture project.
It extends all the way into the backyard with hostas, azaelias, mountain laurel, and wielgia,
I planted this mountain ash tree a couple of years ago and love it when the berries turn a deep orange. It’s starting to go from light green to tinge of orange now.
When we first moved here, the entire front was exposed to the road. As you can see the evergreens have grown tall enough to make the property cozy and more private. They were all small containers of trees, shrubs and perennials. Now they are maturing so much that I need to shape them and split up some of the flowers. Sometimes I can’t believe I put all of this in because the grounds are transformed entirely different than what we first had.
The hostas and shrubs are choking out the Stella lilies, so I’ll move that little splash of sunshine into the front of that area and it will thrive again.
While I have been landscaping and adding more to the property each summer for six years now, my husband and I have been working on the wrap around deck and patio together. The backyard is a huge living space. We added the area for entertaining and our own personal enjoyment. Sometimes I refer to it as our “staycation”. When I first started this gigantic project my husband couldn’t understand why. Once I told him why not enjoy where you live after a long day of work? It didn’t take him long to disagree when he needed to just sit and actually relax. Sometimes he falls asleep somewhere back here.
This section is what I refer to as the “Barbecue Throne”. I built the area using 4×4’s, concrete blocks and five lattice panels. Then I topped them with solar lights. It looks awesome at night.
It’s on poured concrete while adjoining the deck and holds both grills. Having ten burners and 2 side burners keeps the food flowing during large gatherings.
It’s a nice spot to sit and relax in my chair makeovers. By having three patio tables and plenty of chairs to provide seating for up to 12, there is room for grilling away from the guests.
I finished this solar light wall this year. It’s a room divider that had votive candles. I switched them all out for cut wine bottles and inserted solar lights. You can find all of my solar light projects here.
The garden pond provides a relaxing view.
This larger area of the deck is more like a living room.
It’s complete with a solar light chandelier that I put together this year.
The area is also a pass through to the hot tub deck that we finished last summer.
After a soak in the spa tub that I gave a new life to, lunch can be found at this bar I built that holds a mini refrigerator, sun block and bug repellents.
I didn’t plan on squeezing any perennials in here, but for some reason I couldn’t resist.
I planted these lilies in mole proof pots in the ground. After loosing about 25 of them our first year here, I learned to find a way to keep the moles away from my favorite flower.
I love using the bright yellows, oranges and reds to keep the place cheery.
The cone flowers are red and yellow too.
Variegated hostas also brighten up the grass as a border.
No “staycation” is complete without lounge chairs. And I didn’t forget the settees around the fire-pit.
Summer time also brings tall blooms on the hostas and yucca bushes. I only keep them for a few days then cut them off.
I like how yucca stays green in the winter. The blooms are amazing for the short time they are around.
It’s lovely how flowering plants and landscaping brings such pleasure to outdoor spaces. The backyard was always under some kind of construction. Now that it has come together, it’s a matter of some paint, stain and regular maintenance to keep it enjoyable.
I hope you like our cozy outdoor living space. Thank you for visiting! It was so nice to show you around. And thank you, Michele, for having me on the tour!
It was definitely my pleasure Rob. Doesn’t she make it look easy y’all?! I have been spending a great deal of time out in my own yard lately pulling shrubs, planting new ones, bringing in rock and mulch. Repositioning garden benches and are working on the back patio now, so this tour is perfect for some wonderful ideas on what I can encorporate in my own yard. What did you like best? Hop on over and check out more of her amazing projects!
I can’t wait to see you next Friday for another beautiful summer home tour by Fern Creek Cottage
Thank you for joining us today.
Have a gorgeous weekend,
Shelstring 
When can I move in ?? Rob's gardens are so lush and beautiful! Gives me that extra push to get back out and finish our redo of the back garden. Thanks for sharing this amazing retreat Michele.Happy weekend ladies.
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What a gorgeous backyard oasis Rob has! I love that little pond and all the lush greens in the yard! Must be nice to have a hot tub too 🙂
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wow robin your yard is even more gorgeous than your home, i could sit there for hours xx
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Thank you so much for having me among your beautiful guest tours, Michele! It was fun to share the projects and landscaping that make our summers home to us. I can't wait to see the rest of the season's amazing home tours and ideas you have scheduled! 🙂
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Robin is such a talented gal, I've been following her blog for about a year now. She is a very creative, think outside of the box kinda gal. I had no idea her outdoor living space was so beautiful too but then again, I'm not surprised.
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Haha! My sentiments exacty!! I love when people share and it makes you feel inspired to know you can do it too. Can't wait to see what you do with yours, assuming you'll share yours too! 😉
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Oh yeah, every element a garden should have. I would love to have a hot tub too! 😉
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Thank you for visiting Monkey, I would love to enjoy her garden oasis too! 😉
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Such a pleasure to have you Rob! 😉 *hugs!!*
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I'm so glad you stopped by to see her garden tour Marie! You are always welcome back!! 😉
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Great looking place. Thanks for sharing.
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