A week after we officially called our house home again, we tackled a dream project. My dream has always been to have a pergola in our backyard over our patio or in our yard, basically I just wanted ~~needed~~ a pergola. This project was semi DIY meaning we had some help to get it done fast. Hasani along my Dad and one of our amazing contractors spent the weekend building our pergola over our patio [our patio was demo-ed and re-poured & the concrete is perfection] Initially we planned on going with a wood pergola and painting it white, but after many conversation with my dad and doing lots research on maintenance of a wood pergola we opted to go with a metal pergola with a vinyl overlay that looks just like wood without all the maintenance, the pergola came pre-engineered [ & we obtained all the necessary permits before adding the structure in our backyard].

Here's a few pictures of our pergola, I'm in love with the feeling it creates in our backyard. Now I should add these pictures are very much in 'progress pictures.' Both our front and backyard look like a mini waste lands [everything is dead: grass, shrubs, trees you name it & we still have debris in our yard from the fire deep sigh] We're in the process of finalizing our plan to create a beautiful front yard [ you know how much I love grass, so not having a yard is killing me
+ its no fun the kids] I'll share our backyard plans Thursday.

I'm so happy we decided to paint our back door a chartreuse to match our front door! It's such a happy color and I love how it looks with our dark grey siding. We plan on adding a modern style trellis closure to help conceal our trash / green waste / recycle containers that reside on the side our home.

Due to our rood line style in the back of our home we opted to go with a freestanding pergola over over one attached to our home [best decision in my book] Since our neighbors home 'feels so close' maybe its the color they choose, lol? I like the idea of adding a large free standing trellis in this area and growing blooming vines.

We plan on hanging pretty cafe string lights on our pergola to create pretty ambiance at night, we might even add some hanging flowers. I can't wait to throw our first party under the pergola and stars. My long term plan is to have a large seating area under the pergola, maybe an outdoor sectional. I also what a dinning table that seats many and a grill spot for Hasani. Potted plants and dwarf tress [lemons and orange trees] are a must to add color and hello fresh fruit, lol. I also want large outdoor lanterns (but going with flame-less candles instead of the real deal]

I pinned this image over a year ago before the fire and it 'stayed with me' and gave me a lot of inspiration: colorful door check, outdoor lighting check, pergola check & french doors check [ our french doors our off our master bedroom patio]

(via Pinterest Board Exterior House & Yard Ideas)

Ultimately I really want to use every inch of our backyard space to the fullest and have it feel like an extension of our house for lounging, dinners like in the picture below. The outdoor eat space below really and truly feels like an outdoor dining area, exactly what I hope to create.