So here's what we've been up to since the last post.
1. The new landscaping went in around the fire pit area.
2. Our new, yellow Adirondack chairs started peeling and looked terrible. We had to return them and we simultaneously gave up on this style of chair. On to Plan B.
3. Plan B. We purchased a new dinning set and decided to repurpose the chairs from our old table around the fire pit. Since they're really comfortable and dry quickly after a rain, this ended up being a great solution. The new dinning set also extends to fit extra people and looks gorgeous with the stone. Win, win.
4. My husband built the "kitchen" area. And it-is-awesome.
He started with concrete blocks again, framing out the grill area.
Since we decided to make two holding areas (one for firewood and another for grilling tools) he needed to rig a way to do that and hold the weight of the countertop that would ultimately go on top. He used iron bars between the bricks to do that.
Here's what it looked like when all the bricks were in place.
Front:
Back:
Then in the wee hours of the night, he built forms for the concrete countertops.
That shinny silver stuff was used to give the edges of the countertops some texture.
The concrete needed to sit in the forms for a couple days to cure. Meanwhile he got started on the brick work, repeating what he had done for the sitting wall. I'm going to save you all of those photos again and will just get right to the good part. Ta Daaaaahhhhhhhhhhhhh
Holy smokes are you kidding me? Best. Husband. Ever. Seriously, he built this. Me = Smitten (umm, with him and our new kitchen area).
The opening to the left still needs some tile inside and once complete, will hold logs for the fire. The spot to the right needs tile too and when my kids put their bubbles away (ugh), this area will hold grilling tools and serving trays. The countertop will also get sealed after it cures for a few more weeks at which point it will be more brown in color.
Here's a look at the whole new space, landscaping and new accessories included.
And then just for fun I suppose we should do a before and after.
Remember this?
Well that's a slightly closer up view to this...
which didn't have this sitting wall ...
or this!!
Can't even handle it!
We're so excited to spend time in our new space. There are only a few minor additions we need to do yet until next summer when we'll contemplate some couches and some overhead, outdoor bistro lights. Meantime, hope you enjoyed a peek at our summer project!
