It’s almost the Fourth of July! As the holiday approaches and the temperature in Tennessee continues to rise, it seems like the perfect time for a little backyard refresh.
When we purchased the house, there was an old spot where a fire pit had obviously been. There was no ring, but there were remnants of partially burned logs and ashes, and you could tell it was a spot where they may have had a backyard bonfire or campfire several times over.
Jake’s backyard dream has always been to have a really nice area to entertain friends or family. In my own childhood, the backyard had been a center for family time and a play spot for us as kids.
So we both have this vision of a really inviting and warm backyard. This house had a really plain backyard with a lot of potential when we bought it. There are really big, established trees to provide a good source of shade, which is perfect for Tennessee summers. With a spot already having been broken in for a fire pit, we knew that adding our own fire pit would not be too challenging. And there was a perfect corner for us to add swingset for a Little Man.
The yard is also fenced and big enough for Flash, who spends most of his day outside when the weather cooperates.
The back porch is something we hope to refresh in the future but it has good bones and serves a good purpose.
So in May, leading up to Little Man’s birthday, my parents and Jake and I went in together to build a swingset. It’s important that you know that we added this because it ends up being in a corner of this little refreshed area of the yard. Check out our finished swingset below. In the future we hope to add other play equipment is my little one gets older.
So as we are spending more and more time outside, and as the days are at their longest point right now, I really wanted us to have a backyard that felt comfortable and inviting. Our one day dream is to have a crushed gravel fire pit, lined with landscaping timbers, and complete with a picnic area and the fire pit area. However, we want to be budget conscious now as we continue to work on various aspects of the house including inside and front of the house.
So for now we have a more simplistic fire pit area.
We first cleaned up all of the old ash and half burned log, and we really just tried to clean up that area so we had a blank canvas to work with. Jake’s dad had given us a used portable fire pit back when I was at my rental house. Since the fire pit area at the new house didn’t have an actual ring, we thought this would be a great fix for right now until we get to figure out how we want to actually build a stone fire pit in the future. There were already some landscaping steppingstones at the house when we purchased it. They are a little mismatched, and a few of them are chipped or broken, but we were able to piece together a diamond of stone to put our portable fire pit on top of.
Then our local Walmart had a sale on outdoor chairs. Everywhere I looked for outdoor chairs, they were seeming to cost at or over $20 each. But I spotted these black and teal chairs our local Walmart store with a tag that said $10 each on them. When we went in and asked about it, the sales associate was super helpful even though the lawn and garden section was about to be closed, and he got his manager to unlock the chairs and get us the six that we wanted. The manager explained that this store was having the sale because corporate had sent more than anticipated, and they needed to move them out. (So if you’re on the east side of Knoxville, there’s a deal you should catch!)
I positioned these around the diamond fire pit area in a circular shape and added some outdoor pillows I had from years past – I’m sure these were in the $5 outdoor pillow bin at Walmart, which where I always look for outdoor cushions!
I’ve been on the lookout for a wooden barrel planter for a while now. These things get kind of pricey, and, I guess with the price of lumber right now, that shouldn’t be surprising. And while Lowes has plastic ones l for about $15 bucks, I don’t really love the look of faux wood in a fire pit area where you’re going to be setting it next to authentic wood. Having said that, I think those are a great option if you can’t find an affordable one or if you’re using a heavy plastic material in your lawn furniture.
I thought for sure I was gonna end up needing to get the plastic faux wood planter, since the smallest authentic wooden planter at Lowe’s was over 30 bucks, but I stumbled upon this wooden planter at Ross for a great price! It’s even bigger than the ones they had at Lowe’s, which were priced higher.
Jake has always been a fan of tiki torches for a fire pit area. I think it’s because he likes Survivor and it gives him that whole “you’ve been voted off the island” vibe – but I have to admit that getting one and using the bug repellent filler does seem like a smart idea. So while we were at Lowe’s for a gutter project that is not nearly as fun as decorating the backyard, we picked up a nice dark-stained wood tiki torch.
I also use this opportunity to grab some plants. I typically like to buy my own variety of plants and create my own arrangement in my planters, but with the size of this large wooden barrel planter, I decided it be easiest and most affordable to just grab one of these ready to go filler kits from Lowe’s for just under 15 bucks. This one features coleus and other plants that need a medium-level of sun, perfect for the fire pit area that does receive shade from the nearby trees but also gets some direct sunlight in points of the day. I do recommend these filling kits if you have planters that you fill each year – they are a great price and they already pair plants that do well in the same type of lighting. Definitely gardening at it’s easiest!
Another thing I bought at Lowe’s was an American flag for under two dollars. These are out because of the upcoming holiday, but we also do have a larger flag on the front of our house, so I thought it was a nice tie in to the rest of the outdoor space. We also bought two more flags to stick in my flower boxes out front for the holiday because, at that price, you could definitely afford to be a little extra patriotic for Independence Day!
I already had dirt at home, so when we got back to the house, I got straight to planting. We filled my barrel planter 2/3 of the way full putting soil. And I added the plants from Lowe’s and filled in with more dirt. Then Jake and I – because I wasn’t bright enough to just do this planting down at the fire pit and instead it on the raised back porch – carried the heavy planter down to the fire pit area together. Here I added our tiki torch and our flag.
And now for only about $100, we have a great backyard space to sit while a little man plays on the swing set or to have an evening fire and makes s’mores.
I am so pleased with this little corner of our home! We will be using it a lot this holiday weekend. Comment below to let me know how you’ve decorated your backyard on a budget – I’d love to hear from you!
Kate with a Twang 
Wow! What a great deal on those chairs!! Everything looks really nice. Going to have lots of fun in that backyard!
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