Backyard Landscaping

 This was my backyard before.  I had already taken out the flower beds that were at the front of the yard.  I had also taken out the 4 patio blocks from the center of the yard which is where the firepit was located.  I found the yard was very broken up and didn't flow well.

This was the view from the back to the front BEFORE.  The grass is so brown because I killed it all.  It was also full
of weeds.











After the grass all died I rented a sod lifter and cut all of it out.  You can somewhat see the rows of pulled up grass and the sod lifter to the right.  I rented mine from Home Depot.  It was the smaller version and I had no issue using it on my own.

 My first flower bed created was along the fence.  I had a lot of river rocks in my yard when I bought the house.  They were randomly placed so I moved them to create a border.  Before the rocks were placed I used the black bed border which I had to dig down to place in.


















 It turned out quite nice.



My next step was leveling out the yard.  I ordered 5 yards of top soil and used a wheel barrow to haul it in.  The back left corner of the yard was really low.










Once the yard was leveled out I layed down the sod.  It was still a little low in the corner and I did end up adding more soil.  I left the spaces on the left open because that is where I am putting patios and flower beds.  I left the sod undisturbed and watered it for a week.










Next, I placed in the edging for the flower beds and then the patios.

 Once the borders for the flower beds were in place and measured out, I layed down the gravel.  I rented a tamper from Home Depot to really pack it down.













Now that the gravel mix was well tamped down I put in the brick border and decided on the pattern I wanted for my patio.  Looking back I should have dug down a little deeper so that I could have layed another layer of gravel down on top of the border.



I then put down a layer of sand and placed the bricks in the pattern I had chosen.  I used sand to get them as even as I could.  As you can tell it wasn't perfect but it worked for me.















I filled in the empty space behind the patios with gravel.  On the second patio I used a few of the large paving stones.  It allowed a space for my daughter to use her sidewalk chalk.
 I also placed bricks to add to the edging of the flower beds.  I used some of the top soil for the flower beds.

 I absolutely love the outcome!!!

Pallet Ottoman

After building my bench I needed an ottoman to sit in front of it!  I used the remainder of the wider pallet.  I added legs to the center and the sides.  I braced the leg in the middle with square brackets.

 The "top" of the pallet was the underside of the ottoman.  I left the spaces open on the top of the ottoman to fit the cushions that I purchased for it.

Pallet Bench

 To make my pallet bench I used two different sized pallets.  The seat was made of a sturdier pallet and the pallet for the back was slightly wider.  For the legs of the bench I used a 2x8 treated scrap piece of wood.  I placed the back of the bench on top of the legs of the bench.

 I secured the sides and the back of the bench with some 1x4s.  I sanded it a LOT and then applied a coat of waterproofing.  I also added some cushions to make it more comfy to sit on.  I secured everything with screws and not nails.

Pallet BBQ Table

I started off with a simple, FREE, pallet.  I first decided how wide I wanted the top o the table and cut it at that point.

 I then placed the remaining parts of the pallet upright and secured it with screws.  I then reinforced the joints with another piece of 2x4.  I added legs made of scrap posts and other 2x4s.

I  added braces between the legs of the table.  I then cut a piece of plywood and created a shelf on the bottom.

After a lot of sanding and a coat with a weather protector I have a nice BBQ table.