We are finally at reveal week for this installment of the One Room Challenge! I must admit that this challenge has felt like longer than eight weeks. It almost felt as though it would never end, alas we are here. 

Our backyard has changed so much and I am so grateful for the opportunity to turn this space into something that serves our family so well! If you were here for week one of the challenge, then you know that my original plan morphed into something bigger. It seems like every week I was adding on projects. To be honest, there is still so much that I hope to do back here. However, today, I celebrate the progress we have made and look forward to making it even better! 

I decided to do my ORC based on weekly projects. Of course, there were more smaller projects sprinkled in here and there, but overall we focused on completing one major project per week. Here is a recap of those projects:

Week 1 // Week 2 // Week 3 // Week 4 // Week 5 // Week 6 // Week 7

As I was taking the pictures for this post, I felt so much gratefulness. I remember what this space looked like when we first purchased this house. It was full of trees and weeds. There was no grass at all. I never even let our kids step foot back here because it was not safe. 

We had over thirty trees cut down between the front and back yard a few years ago. Prior to that, every time it stormed I was so fearful that one would fall on our house. At that point, I never even thought that this is where we would be as far as the progression of the yard today. 

I have many more dreams for this space, but at this time it was most important for me to keep things within a particular budget. My focus is always on making things functional and beautiful but on a budget. We spent around $1,000 on this space including the greenhouse, garden fence and arbor, floating curtains, sectional build, string lights, etc. 

When we chose this space we decided it would have to be a budget-friendly backyard transformation, but we still needed it to include certain elements. Of course one of the major elements was the greenhouse. This baby has been a workhorse this past few weeks! I am still learning how to best care for plants in here but I love it! We also decided that we needed an outdoor seating area. I loved the idea of a sectional that was large enough for our family and sturdy! But I did not want an outdoor seating area without an outdoor dining area! And of course, we needed floating curtains to really make this feel like an outdoor living space and not just a boring patio.

There are some things that did not make the cut! I really wanted to DIY stencil the patio, add sod in front of the patio (we did seeds instead and it is growing…slowly… but surely!), and have a fence installed around the perimeter of the property. However, those things are in the works! 

One of my favorite elements of the patio is this wall planter. I absolutely love coming out here and seeing all of the beautiful flowers in bloom. It really feels like artwork hung over the sectional! Artwork that I have to water and tend to, but artwork nonetheless!

My my long term plan for the space also includes a pool and a basketball court… I know… I know… but why not? Our goal is to truly create a haven for our family and friends (without breaking the bank). A place that we can enjoy as a family and grow into. 

I am so happy that we decided to tackle this space for the One Room Challenge! It happened to be perfect (not so perfect) timing due to the pandemic, having cooler temperatures, and being stuck at home. My love for gardening is ever growing and I love that we have this space to tend to as a family and watch evolve over time. 

Thank you so much for being here throughout this tumultuous eight week journey! Your encouragement and support has meant so much! It is always so nerve wrecking to share your home and the decisions that you are making for your space, but you all have been amazing! Now head over to the One Room Challenge blog and check out some of the other participants of the challenge!