a backyard reveal

I posted all the way back in October about the paver patio that Will built. It was a huge, laboring process, but he did it all himself! Then winter hit and it sat unused while the snow kept falling. We also used this time as a bit of break from house projects. Then came summer again and we were determined to have a usable backyard space. Will hired someone to aerate and fertilize the lawn in May, which I think, did wonders for the grass. We then began spraying weed killer on nearly everything. I guess we were super anti-chemicals in the past, but we finally just gave in to the beauty of them. Then we put down landscaping fabric where all our dirt piles and weeds had been. Finally, Will had 5 tons of rocks delivered and dumped on our street. He then proceeded to shovel wheel barrow after wheel barrow full of rocks to fill in all our empty space. I should add that I did my fair share of wheel barrow fulls as well. He also built a couple of planter boxes out of old pallets to put next to the garage. I planted a mix of wildflower seeds, strawberries, and blackberry plants. We finished it off by hanging lights across the yard. I feel like we have really taken advantage of the luscious yard and ease of sitting back there. 

Can you tell which ones are the before?? 

Next up on our to do list is a new fence on the side of our house and back of yard by the alley. There is a good section of our property that is not usable right now because we have not extended the fence to include that section. Our eventual hope is to add a play area for the kids and ourselves. The area will consist of a climbing wall. We also are thinking about a fire pit so we can still enjoy the patio when Fall comes.