Behind the Fence

As promised, a peek behind the other side of the fence.

When we bought our house nearly six years ago, it was an expanse of weed-filled grass, melding into the neighboring yard. Oh, and it had a giant concrete RV parking strip adjacent to the alley in back. Perfect for Clark Griswold's cousin, not so perfect for young marrieds trying to cultivate a green thumb.

While there are so many elements that I love (concrete fountain and firepit, custom metal gates and fence, glass garage door), there are others I have come to wish away -- chiefly, our ugly wood fence.

It seems impossible for me to comprehend now the way we approached the building of the fence six years ago, but this was pretty much our strategy: build one. Build one fast. We didn't think much of anything about the design, opting for the premade trellis toppers at Home Depot (apologies to anyone else who has these, but UGH. What were we thinking?).

We wanted a dog, and we wanted privacy. So we built a fence around our entire yard (and by "we" I mean my husband) in a matter of days.

The good news? We got a dog (two, actually), and we got privacy.

The bad news? It's six years later and now we hate our fence. But there is a silver lining: over the last few weekends my husband reinvented one fence panel and installed a set of amazing vintage metal gates replete with--you guessed it--a greek key motif. Dreams really do come true. Photos of this development to follow.

But enough negativity: let's focus on the LOVE.

BEFORE: A view of our garage and backyard from the deck

BEFORE: From the aforementioned RV concrete pad, looking toward the back of the house


BEFORE: In all its glory, the concrete parking strip and back of the garage. (Side note: my husband used a sledgehammer to remove all of this concrete. Insane.)

Now let's move on to the AFTER:

The entry to our side yard, through our old, cobbled-together-on-the-fly wood gate (since replaced with fabulous new-old metal greek-key gates. Stay tuned for more on that project). The weird statue is now gone; it came from a good place, being an homage to St. Francis, patron saint of animals...but one day we both just decided it was weird.

The side yard, showing the detached garage at rear. Not sure if I am feeling the torches any longer, though they are super-functional for dining al fresco on summer evenings.



Reverse view of side yard, looking toward street

Entrance to backyard from side yard. My multi-talented husband welded these gates from pieces of pipe he cut, and the wood came from scraps from a friend's fence project. Growing across it all is a lovely climbing hydrangea that now almost completely shields the two areas from one another with its leaves in the spring and summer. This remains one of my favorite elements of the yard.

The backyard, showing the concrete fountain my husband made. I think this is my very favorite element of the yard.... The sound of running water is so dreamy and seems to be the closest to waterfront living I'm going to get for some time.

Our back deck

Looking toward the back of the house from what used to be the RV parking pad and is now home to a shade garden, firepit, patio and shed! The metal fence shown above was also made by my husband. We are growing privet on either side of the metal arbor to shape around the metal form...it's slow going, but one day we will get there.

The mod shed living in the shadow of the RV parking spot....also built by the husband, who has certainly earned his keep. Its windows and doors all came from our favorite salvage yard, where I have also found amazing treasures for both home and shop.

Fence bordering the alley

Concrete firepit made by...yep, him. The patio under it was crafted from sledgehammered pieces of the former RV parking pad.

One of our splurges was installing a glass garage door where there was previously a homemade set of wooden "carriage doors." (I use that term loosely.)

Finances permitting, we plan to one day convert the garage into a guest house for visiting friends and family. Neither of us are from Seattle, and with a 1,300 square-foot home and two kids, we are desperate to add to our liveable space. The glass garage door was installed with that in mind, so that some day, we and/or our guests can lounge in the garage with an open door, fire blazing and music playing. Life doesn't get much better than that...assuming, of course, that there is easy access to alcohol of some sort.

Like all projects around the home, there remains much more to be done, more growing to occur and refinements to be made, but it is certainly rewarding to stop and reflect on how far we've come.