Transforming a Small Backyard into a Cozy Courtyard | DIY Renovations

If you ever find yourself unimpressed with a portion of your home, never give up hope that you can transform it into something amazing! With a little hard work and imagination you can turn even the most dull and hopeless of spaces into a work of art.

If you need proof, take a look at how this person completely transformed his small, bland backyard into a cozy hangout spot.

Back “yard” patio renovation via Imgur

This is what we started with when we bought the unit. The corner of the “yard” was filled with little elm trees because that’s where the gutter was. I honestly don’t know how the previous owners let it get that bad. Before I wised up and bought a reciprocating saw, I chopped all that down with a hatchet. It was awful.

Progress in clearing the trees/weeds

Aerial view of the patio
Because of all the extra leaves, the peagravel was really dirty and half peagravel/half twigs/leaves.
The slope of the current patio was a challenge. I battle back and forth with extending it to the fence or just keeping the current retaining wall and changing out the holly. I decided to rip out the holly so I could get as much space as possible.
Holly chopped and retaining wall starting to come down. Time for the hard part… Digging the roots.
Once we had it all cleared, we began to install the draining pipe. This runs right underneath the pavers. It runs off into a surface parking lot so not too worried about flooding or neighbor concerns.
Starting to level off the first bit of the existing gravel. I got lucky and didn’t need to add any. Had to take away just a bit of the peagravel but the existing gravel underneath was adequate. We used paver base panels as well.
Partially finished product before we put down the poly sand. I got INCREDIBLY lucky with how this worked out. On all sides from the existing concrete to the fence, it just fit. I had to make only 4 cuts to fit everything.
The water box was more trouble than worth to remove so I just cut the pavers short and made a little water runoff spot with white marble. I think it turned out well!
This is the gutter attachment that goes to the drain underneath. I get a bit of splashing on the clean out if the rain is really heavy but I have not seen any flooding at all.
Polywood furniture finally came in awhile after completion. This stuff is comfy!
Bought some lights at Costco for full cozy. Really happy with how it all turned out.