Summer Backyard Update
Last updated August 21, 2024
Danette and Kat are best friends who work as DIYers and share their journey on social media. Kat works as a commercial insurance adjuster, and Danette is a flight attendant. When they are not tending to their day jobs, they are bouncing between their two workspaces. Known for their luscious voluminous hair, they began their journey by putting together a workbench. After months of using the floor as their base, an upgrade was in order. Learning from others has helped the team realize the potential in their own homes and empowers them to take on tasks. It's not uncommon for them to have multiple projects going on simultaneously; any frustrations experienced on a project require them to take a step back and reconsider their approach and then approach it from a different angle. They do not call themselves D.I.Try Experts for nothing! Danette and Kat are best friends who work as DIYers and share their journey on social media. Kat works as a commercial insurance adjuster, and Danette is a flight attendant. When they are not tending to their day jobs, they are bouncing between their two workspaces. Known for their luscious voluminous hair, they began their journey by putting together a workbench. After months of using the floor as their base, an upgrade was in order. Learning from others has helped the team realize the potential in their own homes and empowers them to take on tasks. It's not uncommon for them to have multiple projects going on simultaneously; any frustrations experienced on a project require them to take a step back and reconsider their approach and then approach it from a different angle. They do not call themselves D.I.Try Experts for nothing!
A Note From The Home Depot
Do you plan to entertain in your home for the Summer time? Read below to see how Danette and Kat of Material Curls transform their backyard space with some great upgrades from The Home Depot!
Table of Contents
Summer Backyard Update
Summer Backyard Update
One of our favorite things about the summer is spending time together in the backyard! Our backyard unfortunately comes up a little short on space and functionality but that is about to CHANGE!
We love having guests over for bbq but one thing that has made it difficult to entertain was our lack of seating. Our four piece set was due for a major upgrade. The first step of every project is to check out Pinterest and start a mood board. This really helps you plan out your projects and most importantly stay within your budget. High on our must have list was a new grill and additional seating.
Let’s start with the grill! We have always had a charcoal grill, but for quick weeknight meals, we really wanted to give gas a shot! The Char Griller Gas & Charcoal grill made sure that we didn’t have to sacrifice our beloved charcoal grill, for our new added convenience of a quick lighting gas grill. Having our cake and eating it too! Home Depot has a wide selection of pre assembled grills available which is right up my alley!
Next major decision was seating. I always dreamed of a big backyard sectional that could comfortably sit our friends and family. I knew the size I had in mind wasn’t available so it’s time to DITry! I found some outdoor sectional plans online and found the perfect cushions on HomeDepot.com to make them cute and comfy! The best thing about building my own sectional was the ability to customize the size based on the cushions I purchased. After hitting the lumber section, me and my Ryobi tools got to work! A few days later, a ton of screws, and a coat of Behr waterproofing stain & seal and I had a custom made outdoor sectional!
One area down and one more to go! We had the concrete extended because we truly wanted an outdoor area that was built for entertainment. I’ve always dreamed of a nice outdoor dining set that we could have family dinners at or sit at with a cup of coffee to start our day and BOY did I find the perfect table! This Hampton Bay Haymont 7 Piece Steel Wicker set is DREAMY! I loved that the set is elegant, spacious, and functional. The faux concrete top gives this outdoor table an indoor worthy aesthetic that I fell in love with and is sooo easy to clean up! The faux wicker made from steel is constructed to last our family for YEARS. To really pull together the coziness of this space I found the perfect outdoor rug. This nuLOOM Angie Tribal
indoor/outdoor rug is a whole vibe. Y’all may think I’m extra but please take your shoes off when you step on this outdoor rug because your feet deserve this softness even outside.
Now that the big stuff is behind us, time to accessorize! My landscaping in my backyard was in need of some lovin. Black mulch and pops of color were what I had in mind to really make this space complete. Home Depot’s outdoor plant section sparks so much joy for me! I spent a few hours looking at plants, their needs, and their colors to decide what fit our needs best. Our backyard gets a ton of sun so full sun flowers welcome home! Yard work really isn’t my thing so I picked as many perennials as I could so that I could be one and done, ya dig? After grabbing a few bags of soil and fertilizer, I was ready to grab a few bags of mulch! The mulch calculator on the HomeDepot App really takes the guesswork out of how many bags you should purchase. You can walk your property line and enter the footage and it tells you exactly how many bags you need!
After buying everything from the garden center, we checked out and got to work! Pro tip, do your planting after it rains. The first time I started planting, we hadn’t had rain for a few days and BOY was that a workout. I wasn’t able to finish all of my planting before rain interrupted but what a blessing in disguise. Planting after the rain was a million times easier because the rock hard dirt I was trying to dig in was now soft clay. This is probably common sense to most but was new news to me lol. After all of my planting was done, I laid some landscaping fabric to help prevent weeds and edged my new flower beds with Vigoro’s no dig edging. Another pro tip, leave this out in the sun for a few hours so that it is easier to work with. After it’s warm up, the edging was super easy to edge my beds with and will help us retain soil and mulch in our flower beds.
Finish line is that you? Going over my checklist and my project is nearly complete! New grill, new seating, and new flowers have this backyard looking like a million bucks! The problem with a brand new backyard is the unwanted guests it attracts. I’m talking about MOSQUITOES. Home Depot has some super cute tabletop tiki torches that not only keep the bugs away, but still fit the vibes!
Stepping back I am in AWE of how beautiful this makeover came out. Being able to find all of my needs from grilling, to outdoor furniture and decor is a game changer! The backyard of my dreams is now literally in MY BACKYARD and we cannot WAIT to kick back and relax all summer long!
This post was created in partnership with The Home Depot. The author may have received compensation for this article and associated images or video, potentially in the form of products and/or services. All expressed opinions and experiences are the author’s own words.
