Homework, part 1

A quiet TLGH often indicates quite the opposite for the non-virtual TLGH. In other words, it was a busy, busy summer. And most of the credit goes to our tiny attached garage which we are no longer permitted to refer to as a "garage." It is now a playroom extraordinaire. This has been among our long-term plans for the house and was, in our minds at least, bundled into some of the plans for our outdoor space which we also accomplished over the course of the summer.

The Little Grey House has an even littler backyard. To maximize the space we do have we wanted to create a large patio space behind the garage, I mean, playroom. As some of the space belongs to our lovely neighbors the ideal scenario was to redo the entire space with pavers. Since we pulled our oil tank the previous fall, our driveway had been reduced to a pebbly mess, so the grand plan was to use pavers on the driveway, along the walkway/alleyway leading to the back, in the back and along the walkway leading to the girls' backyard. They were completely on board (we hit the lottery in the neighbor department) and the end result was a space that was infinitely more useful for us both. What was once an uneven surface of busted up macadam is now a surprisingly expansive stretch where the kids can ride bikes, roller skate and run amuck en route to the back yard. K installed a tall fence between the driveway and the back ensuring everyone plays where they should while completing the compound effect.

Here are the best before shots I could muster up:
















And after:























We even installed a pool in the alleyway between our houses!



Now this is living.

The paver job was handled by professionals. The garage transformation was done, literally, in house. In the next episode of TLGH see how one home-improvement project can hijack an entire summer.