I’m anxious to finish up a few home improvement projects so that I can instead get my hands into a few organization projects. The home improvements are wearing me down! I’ve been in “home improvement” mode since purchasing the house last June. I literally hit the ground running the day the house closed…and it hasn’t stopped since. A lot has been accomplished and I’m proud of how many improvements have been made, but once this wave of improvements is complete – it’s time for more balance.

To be completely honest with myself, I know I will always be in some phase of home improvement. I enjoy updating a home or fixing things that don’t work well. But these major home improvements are what is weighing on me. Mainly the pool and landscaping jobs. With summer on its way in though, it’s the perfect time to take it down a notch and work on projects that get me fired up = organization!

And I have many fun organization ideas to tackle and share in the coming weeks / months!

Today, however, I’m here to give you a quick update on a few outdoor and patio projects. Since the patio is almost done, I’m getting into the nitty gritty of making the space even more inviting. I have a few inspiration photos to share on that topic.

But let’s first begin with the brick work that was wrapped up this week. You’ll remember this dead space between the screened-in patio and backyard brick path…

I don’t know how the previous owners lived without a pad of some kind between the two spaces. My concrete genius, who helped create the front driveway and brick path that continues around the left side yard, popped over and in less than an hour created this…

Aaahhhh – much better, right? It will look even better once there is ground cover on either side.

He also repaired the last of the broken bricks by the right side gate…

About 2 feet of brick work was demolished during the pool renovations, the addition of the concrete path, and the fence removal / rebuild. This brick path meets up to the new concrete path on the other side of the fence….

Now it’s all better. No more jagged edges or broken bricks to stumble or trip on.

There were updates in the screened in patio over the last week too. I’ve enjoyed watching this room transform during the last several weeks. Started here…

First I cleaned up the space by adding a fresh coat of paint…

Then I added carpet tiles…

Brought back in my original patio table, with added new chair cushions…

Then I purchased a new sectional…

Next up on the to-do list was adding lighting and a mounted tv. That’s where I left off and where this update continues.

What once was an empty wall…

Now holds a tv. I’m sorry, scratch that. More like a tv that can be seen from outer space. Geez!

Seriously though, fall & football season can’t come fast enough for this lady!…

Recessed lighting was added. I added 6 cans, but think 2 additional cans may work better…

Currently there are 2 sets of 2 over the table and 1 set of 2 over the sectional. Since a new switch with a dimmer was added, 2 more lights aren’t going to hurt anything…

We also re-did the outlet up high in this corner…

There was no reason to have an outlet sticking out like that, so we replaced it with one that is flush with the wall…

Of course, I’ll have to re-paint what was just painted. Ha! At least my paint is organized and easy to locate!

The flood lights outside the patio door were also replaced. What was once this mess, with exposed wiring…

Is now correctly installed, up to date, outdoor floods…that I can turn on / off from inside the house!…

This was another one of those things that made me scratch my head…the indoor switch for the previous flood lights didn’t work. You had to manually turn them on / off on the actual outdoor light.

??

Problem resolved and that’s what matters!

Those are the updates to share. Now let’s move on to some inspiration as I work out the last bit of details for the patio.

In my original plans, I hoped to add wall sconces and / or hanging lights of some kind. You can see my lighting ideas here…

Sadly, both ideas didn’t work out because of the low ceilings and the sconces would be unbalanced on either side of both sets of french doors. It wasn’t going to work. So I went with the recessed lights, but am still thinking about the light strings, also seen above in my inspiration board. I found a few great string lights at Target and plan on hanging them soon, once the additional 2 recessed lights are added. In the meantime I’m been looking for lighting inspiration and love these gorgeous lighted patios…