One of the advantages of a new build house is that it is a blank canvas – you have a lot of freedom to create exactly the home you want. The landscaping is no exception. When we bought our house (from plans) I started dreaming about the backyard oasis we could create. It looked a little like this in my head:
Source: Hometalk
My imagination might have run a little wild with what we could do in our 20’ x 40’ space. It turns out creating an oasis, even in a small space, takes a lot of time…and money…apparently.
To help save money Chris and I have slowly been creating our dream backyard over time instead of doing it all in one fell swoop. Two years ago we built our L-shaped deck:
Last year we expanded the gardens at the front & side of the house and Chris built a raised vegetable garden:
So what are we planning for this year? We’re building a second deck. What? I know, it sounds a little crazy…I mean, who needs two decks? In 800 square feet? What can I say…we like decks? Just go with it…it’s going to be awesome.
We’ve decided to build a 10’x12’ floating deck. Approximately here:
Can you see the garden hose? Yeah..that’s how we plan decks. We had a lot of fun building deck #1 so we’re both really looking forward to building #2 – and hey – we’re starting this weekend!
What else is planned for our backyard oasis? Eventually we’re going to dig out a larger egress for mum’s bedroom window and add a little garden. We’d also like to add raised flower beds with some trellis to grow some climbing plants along the back fence. So…maybe something that looks a little like this:
I mean…it’s no garden in the forest but with a daquirita in hand I think it will definitely qualify as an oasis. What do you think?
If you want to follow along (and are not shocked by a lot of beer drinking) I’ll be posting deck progress pics on Instagram @housebythebay!