Backyard Pond

In 2012 we did a backyard overhaul including a deck, patio and landscaping and I blogged about it here.

In 2015 we added a fish pond next to the patio and I never found the time to share it on my blog. So here it is!

We really had no idea what we were doing when we started digging for a pond. I guess it goes to show that anyone can build a pond? We did a little research about how deep we should dig it so our fish would survive the winter and were fortunate enough to have someone doing away with their pond so we had a pump and rocks to work with.

We just laid out a hose and created what we thought we wanted. It's nearly 3 feet deep in the middle and we made some ledges for plants to sit on. I loved to see them change colors and bloom!

The pond is about 10 feet long and 4 feet wide. Hubby built a bridge for the fish to have some summer shade (but I can't seem to find a pic of it right now).I am happy to report that the fish survived their first winter!

Now I am anxiously awaiting some beautiful warm weather so we can enjoy our backyard again!

Fireplace Update

Time for another home improvement! This one I have been dreaming about for a few years and my husband for Valentines gave me a choice... a new ring or a fireplace remodel. Well, anyone that knows me well enough knows it was an easy choice. So basically as soon as I told him my decision I was ripping out the tile on our fireplace (so he couldn't turn back!).

The one thing that did change about the plan I had in my head for over 2 years was the stone. I had visualized this rustic looking stacked stone.

And after making the decision to open up the room and take out the hearth (the seat in front of the fireplace), I started having second thoughts about the rustic stone I had picked.

Someone suggested granite in place of the hearth and my heart started throbbing. Once I had my mind made up on granite I decided to look for a more contemporary stacked stone. My hubby and I decided on a stone we found at Home Depot. It was $10.99 a square foot. We ended up spending $1200 on just the stone and we have only tiny scraps left over.

It turned out our stone was going to be so heavy that we needed to replace our drywall with backer board. The only part of the fireplace we actually did was removing the tile/ hearth and the design work. From this point on we hired a remodeling company. From start to end it took them three days (and they did a great job!).

 

Initially I wanted a floating stone mantel but I couldn't find anyone that could do exactly what I wanted so I decided on a wood mantel. I wanted straight lines and dark stain (someday our hardwood floors will coordinate, but that's soooommmeday).

 

The toughest job about the tiling of this stone was the 45 degree corners. We insisted that we wanted the look of the 45 degree cuts. The installers tried to convince us otherwise but we were persistent and are glad we were as we love the result! We choose a Black Pearl granite to replace the hearth. It's beautiful and really gives a nice finish to the project.

Before:

And yes, the tv did go back up. In fact my hubby thinks he needs a larger one up there now.

 What's the next house project? Stay tuned to find out!