Our Outdoor Project Update – Phase 2 Is So Exciting (AND FAST!)

This will be our third summer living here and we have learned a LOT about how we use the backyard. First off – we love to have huge multi-family neighborhood gatherings (our school community is so awesome) which included a few fundraisers (and now an annual “wine and swine”‘,”, lol). They are basically family frat parties and they are SO MUCH FUN. We knew that at one point we’d want to have a proper area to grill and cook, but they can be such an investment so we wanted to wait until we knew exactly where it should go before we tore up whatever we needed to to make it happen. Plus, we needed to save some money and gear up mentally for having construction here again). We reached out to Dennis’ 7 Dees in November in hopes of doing it in the winter and being done by spring and I’m THRILLED to say that they are killing it. I love the design (shout out to Eric) and my goodness their team is moving so fast and they are so skilled. We feel like we are in very good hands.

So I’ll walk you through the goals and the big old plan:

A Gazebo Grilling Area For Big Ole BBQs

I wanted to turn this cute shed into the outdoor kitchen so badly but it was in such bad shape (foundation crumbling, wood rotting, blah blah) so all the experts involved gave us the same review – it needed to be torn down and rebuilt. But the location of it was PERFECT for the kitchen – right in the middle between the future pickleball court and the lawn, but not too far away from the house. I’ll likely write a separate post about all things outdoor gazebo/kitchen. We are working with RTA Outdoor Living and so far the process has been incredible, and we should have them delivered in a month – so much faster and more affordable than a custom kitchen BTW. We are building a deck with a covered gazebo for hanging out, with the kitchen inside of it. I’ve hired my brother’s company (recently started with a friend) and I’ll link them up as soon as they get all their social and website stuff going. They are doing such a great job on this gazebo/deck/kitchen and our storage garages.

The “Sports Court” Is Just Too Big

Y’all this is one of the most expensive and regretful mistakes we’ve made to date!! Congratulations on being here to witness it. Now, I think I can give credit to Brian and maybe even my brother for this one as the sports court was Brian’s domain. Also, we need to remember the OG court was literally twice this big before. But despite reducing it in half it’s still too massive and we really just want the size of a pickleball court. But even worse, it’s just not the vibe of the farm. Too much cement, not enough nature. And I think since the pool/jacuzzi is so small (11×14 and we LOVE IT) it just all looked so out of proportion. We waited on properly resurfacing it with the pickle ball lines (which admittedly would have helped it look less like a parking lot) which I’m grateful for. When we reached out to Dennis 7 Dees to help with the landscaping I threw out the wishlist of reducing the size of it, and while it was a huge expense ($15k) they made me feel so comfortable and sure that it was the right move (and that they could do it properly without cracking the remaining concrete). It’s already gone and I can kinda see the future greenery and I’m so excited.

What’s Going In The Place Of The Now-Demo’d Out Portion Of The Sports Court?

We want to create a more natural park-like setting. More greenery and shrubs that hopefully your eye goes to first. We’ll add two small flagstone landing pads for picnic tables with paths connecting them for more seating for families (and future events). We are also putting in three large trees (shout out to Big Trees Today – they have larger trees and they plant them for you and guarantee them for a year). While it might take a while to really grow in, we are buying a lot of plants from Monrovia that are more mature in hopes of having it look better sooner.

Clover Lawn Near The Paddock

While we didn’t hate the area by the fenceline where the animals are, in the summer it looked like garbage. Plus at one point they trenched up a bunch to put electrical into the barn and never covered over it so there are these huge dangerous trenches that are now solid as a rock from the sun. 7 Dees had a beautiful plan for this area, but frankly, due to budget, we nixed all their pretty plans in favor of just installing a seeded clover lawn. Brian needs this area to wheel over all the animal food and honestly, we just had to reign in the scope at some point. We might add more shrubs at some point but without irrigation (which we opted not to do also for budget purposes) we aren’t sure what will survive our rather long and hot summers. We’re putting in a path there from the sports court to the art barn 🙂

Why Are You Doing So Much To Your Property?

Well, this is the real question, right? When we found it 5 years ago we knew it would be a lot, but similar to birth and parenting you really don’t know what you are getting yourself into until you are in it 🙂 We know that this property is our business, essentially, and where we do a ton of partnership photo and video shoots. Additionally, since we are a farm in the middle of the city (that is also zoned for commercial) we do think future events, retreats, small corporate off-sites, or parties could happen here (likely after the kids graduate high school). So when making improvements we are thinking of what will make it desirable to rent out and how it can be beautiful and really functional (i.e. a janky 30″ BBQ wasn’t exactly going to draw in the big family reunions or big summer BBQ fundraisers). It’s a dream property for us, but as our family business we are hoping to be able to create some revenue from all this hard work someday (let’s just I have serious DREAMS of running some design, antique, and wellness retreats here. And then long term maybe I’ll insist that my kids and grandkids live here while Brian and I retire and live in the barn… 🙂 Real Mormon commune stuff that I am certainly not above. My parental manipulation abilities (to spend time with my kids) knows no bounds!

It’s certainly a lot, and we feel so incredibly lucky to be doing it. And again a huge shout out to Dennis 7 Dees (landsape design and construction as well as two awesome Portland nurseries), Monrovia, Big Trees Today (Portland-based Tree service), and RTA (Ready To Assemble Outdoor Kitchens). While some of these companies have discounted services for photography/PR trade, my personal experience thus far has been incredible. More to come soon.

*Photos by Kaitlin Green