Nautical Outdoor Oasis

Almost a year ago, in early June of last year, we enlisted the help of some of our good friends (with the lure of an awesome suntan, great workout, and possibly some alcoholic beverages as well, hehe) to help us construct a firepit area in a spot of our yard practically calling for a pit of fire and some friends gathered round. 

Brandon and I picked up all of the supplies at Home Depot using the Pavestone Rumblestone Firepit Kit. You can basically choose from multiple different layouts and they have a list of the exact amount of each type of brick you need. It's very simple actually! Then, you just get the firepit insert that corresponds with the layout you chose.

Here's a quick rundown of our process in case you were wondering (if not, just scroll down to the after pics!). First, we dug up the grass in a baseball diamond shape seeing as that was the most logical shape for it in this location of our yard. Then we laid out some standard landscaping fabric to block weeds from growing up through, cut it down to size, and used garden staples on the edges to hold the fabric down. Once the fabric was attached, we placed our firepit stones in the place we wanted them and then began filling the space with many, many bags of white stones to finish off our space. Brandon later came in and edged the entire area with more paver stones as you'll see later which really streamlined the whole area. 

For months, our firepit area solely consisted as the bench as our only seating. But I had a vision in mind and I was determined to make it awesome and totally "us"! Finally, we found some stumps in the woods near our house that someone had left for trash and I knew they were just what we needed so we hauled them to our backyard to put them to good use. Again, that was months ago...   

Recently however, I finally had the chance to finish off this awesome outdoor space with a few new additions now that it has gotten warmer and I think I am finally satisfied with its entirety! Using outdoor acrylic patio paint, I quickly updated the stumps to make them an awesomely bright pop of color. I love the character that each stump has and that no two are alike. The striped seat cushions are from Target that I got on super sale using the Cartwheel app on top of an already awesome deal. Finally, I added a few Adirondack chairs and snagged the Walter the Whale from Carolina Pottery. Oh yea, and that rusted anchor in the far right is actually a real antique one we found at a shop in Southport, NC on our mini-moon! 

So far, this space has been great for my morning coffee, relaxing in the sun, and of course hanging out with friends late into the night with a nice cold one and some s'mores. We love to entertain so this space is definitely party worthy and comfortable.

In other awesome backyard news, on the opposite side from the firepit we have also upped the ante by adding that new tropical bush as well as a small garden Brandon constructed on the side of the house. So far we only planted tomatoes, but we shall see! Maybe we'll get some other veggies in the mix if we can grow a few tomatoes first! 

Eh... they have a long way to go. ;) 

Peace, 
Allison 

Linked up with: Inspire Me Please, Project Inspire{d}, Friday's Five Features. 

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