FINAL! Back Patio Reveal {Part 3}

Well my friends, the last time we spoke, I explained how we landscaped and re-sodded our backyard. By the way, our grass is still green and our flowers are growing like crazy, so I guess so far so good there. Even after we had over 40 people (including some pretty rambunctious kiddos) at our house on a BEAUTIFUL day to celebrate the upcoming arrival of Baby Boy Toler, the grass still looks perfect. Whoopee!

Anywho- so onto part 3 of the patio reveal! After we had the concrete and structure itself completed, we that Handy Hubby of mine started wiring the patio. We He wired the patio so we could have recessed cans for overhead lighting, a ceiling fan, cable hookup for our tv, surround sound speakers and also multiple outlets for plugging in Christmas lights, or charging a phone or whatever else we may need to plug in outside.

We have great plans to make a sort of outdoor kitchen, but those plans have been put on hold for a bit. We are looking forward to enjoying our patio as much as we can since the weather has been so nice. Hubby got the wood to build his bar and counter top areas from our friend Buster (his family owns a saw mill). They will be sitting in the garage for now. We didn't want to get halfway into that project then have to have it half-way completed for the baby shower. Now that the shower is over, we will start on that!

Ok, so without further ado, here are the final steps of our patio...

Hubby ran the electrical and tied it in to our existing electrical line we had outside. (Yah, I know that't not very technical, but thats the best I can describe it!) He ran the eleectrical to the ceiling for the lights, fan and tv/radio area, and also ran it to each post.

Here he is, running the wires up to the ceiling and installing our recessed can lights. We have four of them. We also have an outlet above the cooking area that is currently home to our awesome mason jar lights! There will be a picture of that, so stay tuned.

Here he is again, working on the wiring. I have to admit, anything having to do with the ceiling of the patio, he was pretty much on his own. We all know how clumsy I am, so I had nothing to do with being on a ladder and helping out, which was probably the best idea for all involved.

Here is the finished electrical wiring! This box contains the switch for our ceiling fan and our recessed can lights. Below the box is another outlet.

The previous owners had already run cable outside. (For whatever reason, we are not sure, because they really didn't have a patio or even a tiny spot to hang out, but to each their own...) Hubby used the existing cable, added an extender and ran it to the cable box he had installed under the patio.

This is how the cable looks for now. I know, I know, a little ghetto. Soon, the gutters from the patio and the house will be connected, so the cable wire will be disguised more.

*Side note* The reason we decided to NOT tie in to our house and existing roof line, was 1. it was WAY more expensive since they would have had to rip off part of our roof on two sides and connect the patio and 2. we would have had to pull permits from the city which would have been even more expensive....

Here is one of our speakers. We have two under the patio.

Here is an oulet that Hubby put up high. I have a feeling this outlet will become very convienent around Christmas time for lights!

Here is our tin roof completed and our ceiling fan!

Here is the TV mount, and the shelf that holds the receiver and cable box. Hubby wrapped the wooden shelf in tin to make it flow better. I love how it came out.

The tin came from my Nanny and Boo's house. My Nanny has been gone almost 4 years and we have slowly been cleaning out her house as it will be torn down this year. We decided the tin would go perfectly with our "rustic" theme. Once when we went home, we loaded the truck up with tin and Hubby got to work when we got back. Well, sadly, some of the pieces were too bent or had other issues and he ran out before he could complete the ceiling. One weekend, he made a quick trip home to get the rest of the tin and here is the ceiling completed. I couldn't be happier with it!

Here is our swing and our barrel side-table. I still need to get some new outdoor pillows, but that is on my to-do list. I have had these pillows on my patio or porch since I first moved to Texas (which is coming up on 4 years if you can believe that!)

Here is a shot of the TV and our new spool table. I will be posting very soon about how we transformed this cable spool into a table. Our old bar stools from inside happened to be the PERFECT height for this table. The bar stools were actually a little too short for our bar inside but we were too lazy to buy new ones and now we've been in our house for 2.5 years, I guess it is time to replace them!

And now, the moment you've all (hopefully) been waiting for! Here is the finished product! Here is our labor of love, the patio that took us 5 months to complete! If you look under the mason jar lights where the green chairs go, that is where Hubby's cooking station will eventually go.

Here is another view, from the side of the house. I love how cool the recessed can lights look in these pictures, like beautiful little orbs. You will also notice our grass is doing GREAT and is very very green!

Another side view.

And here for the grand finale...Before and After!


The first is the picture of our backyard that was on the Houston Area Realtor's Association. website when we bought our house. I had to go outside our back gate and stand on a chair and still couldn't get the angle quite right to get the exact picture, but I think I got pretty close! Here is also the after of that same close enough to being same shot!

Here are some more before and afters for your viewing pleasure.

                                                                              

We are so proud of our patio and have been enjoying it every day since completion.

Feel free to come over and hang out anytime!!! We've always got good music, cold beer and great company. (Man, it feels good to be finished with these patio posts...for now!!!)

Have a great rest of your week!