Our next big project is happening and I can not wait for it to be done!

For the longest time we have said that we want to do SOMETHING with our outdoor court.  Something other than willfully neglect it and treat it like the redheaded stepchild.  It is important to us….it’s one of the reasons we fell in love with this house in the first place.  And over the years we have had so many sweet memories here….my sister’s wedding reception, countless birthday parties, it is even where Will rode his bike for the first time.  Quick someone hand me a wet/dry vac because my tears are a flowing!

The point is – the court is an asset that we love and cherish and we want to have many more memories here.  We also just found out that our neighbors sold their house and for the first time ever we are gonna have new neighbors.  And they have a little boy.  So we want all the kiddos to congregate at OUR house.  Hence – time for Operation Make it FUN.

But first – the before.  Our court is not quite the size of a tennis court….but it does have the holes for the tennis net posts.  And we don’t play tennis anyway.  It’s actually closer to the size of a pickle ball court….which we also don’t play but we are wanting to learn.  Apparently it’s all the rage.  On one side of the court is a retaining wall with a half moon shape that the kids park their toys on.

We also have the trampoline over here temporarily.  It is the traveling tramp that we move every few months to different locations….I wouldn’t be surprised if it was next to the mailbox next.

The trampoline doesn’t really scare me….I know some people are probably LOSING THEIR MINDS right now that it is on concrete.  But the kids have the net and they don’t fall…..yet.  What does scare me is the retaining wall.  The kids have ridden their bikes down here a couple times and come very close to going over that wall.  So yeah.  Terrified.  I want to plant ALL the bushes at the top to create a buffer zone.

On the other side of the court is the fence.  You know that it no longer looks like this.  We attached fence panels on the chainlink fence and now it looks REALLY good.  But that light?  Yeah – it needs to be changed because we want this court to be a basketball court.  That is right!  We would like it be a basketball court and also have lines for other activities like four-square, shuffle board and pickle ball!  That means we need good lighting for when the sun goes down.

And also we are getting rid of the old hoop.  We actually got this when a local church was getting rid of it….it doesn’t stay up unless that giant rock is on it….and it isn’t adjustable so my little guys that are playing rec basketball are TRYING to launch it up there but we really want them to love basketball.  I say we…but really it’s me.  My dad was a basketball coach for many years and we all played growing up.  So the idea of having all my kiddos play ball in the back yard is as natural as breathing.

That being said – we donated this bad boy and are ready for some serious hoops.

And speaking of playing….we need to redo the actual court.  The concrete is a very pale pink that turns brown when it’s dirty so we would love to change that color to something a bit more cohesive with the color of our house.  We went through a ton of options and we are considering a product specifically created for concrete.  I like grays and greens.  Jeremy is a bit more color minded.  We will see how that pans out.

We also would LOVE to work in some storage and seating somewhere.  We have those two adirondack chairs that are down there from our fence makeover and love those but we were thinking maybe something more?  It would be nice to also have enough for four people to sit.  Also we need storage for all the balls, toys, bikes, scooters and such.  We have a large lidded storage tub down there but it can’t hold everything so we need to brainstorm a solution there.

I put together a moodboard just for some direction and inspiration…

storage shed – 4 piece seating set – basketball hoop – our current storage box

And here is the list of the things we would want to get done for the makeover….

• cover up the ugly chainlink fence (DONE!)
• pressure wash the court
• relocate trampoline to permanent location
• install basketball hoops (this is in progress!)
• redo the court surface
• build shade/small pergola over half moon area
• landscape above retaining wall
• purchase storage shed for bikes/balls
• give storage shed makeover
• purchase additional toy/cushion storage
• buy additional seating

So what do you guys think?  I am excited to get this done and I think that fall is the perfect time to tackle outdoor areas because the temperature and humidity is finally dropping.  Also the kids go back to school next week so we are excited to have a little more time to tackle projects.