You are now entering the Twilight Lounge Patio!
After owning my home for many years, this is what I know is true: it’s often best to embark on a new project without fully realizing what you’re getting yourself into, otherwise you would never start. So it is with my patio project, the ‘Twilight Lounge’,which has been an evolving project years in the making.
Oh, it has been a labor of pure love for sure but there were times when It became so overwhelming that I just wanted to stop. Just stop. Like when I began to shovel the dirt out of my backyard. I had half of my patio area dug out, which was 20 x 30 feet and 18 inches deep, and I wanted to die. It was hot, the dirt was heavy and I wasn’t quite sure where to even put dirt. I just didn’t want to do it anymore. Needless to say I persevered, or I wouldn’t have a story to tell, but with help and lots of encouragement from friends and family.
At one point I had the patio all dug out except for a small area on one side of the steps where the patio meets the porch. For years I had field stone laying there and it looked OK. However, on the other side of the stone steps I had laid gravel and made a nice brick border. In that moment I was fine with keeping the field stone in place even if it didn’t match the brick right next to it.
However, a friend of mine had stopped in to check out where I was at in my project. I proudly showed her the patio explaining that I thought the stone looked pretty natural the way it was. She just looked at me, for a long while, and then ‘highly’ encouraged me to take the time to complete the project by digging out that area and laying brick down to match the other side (basically telling me it would look like crap if I didn’t). I will be forever grateful to Rhonda for her ‘gentle’ persuasion that it was the right thing to do.
More proof positive that when you set your mind on something you really can accomplish it. And what a great feeling of achievement once complete. The greater the project, the harder the obstacles, the deeper the pride you will feel.
So I’m going to chronicle my adventures in creating the ‘Twilight Lounge’ in hopes that I can offer words of encouragement to all who take on the intimidating Home DIY Project. I learned a lot and gained an incredible amount of confidence through this one project and I look forward to hearing about your experiences too.
BTW, my patio is so named after a little shopping excursion at the Army-Navy store in P-Town back in 2011 where I came across this great retro sign …
Next week … laying the ground work.