Once again, Pinterest is the devil. What started as a, “Wow, that is really a cool looking swing! I wonder if we could make that work?” turned into a huge project that ended up looking soooooo great.
About four months ago, I spotted the Cacoon and Jeremy and I started talking about it. Where could we hang it? How could we make it work? We walked our yard and realized that we had one large space that was pretty much wasted and it would be a PERFECT spot for it. But of course we couldn’t just buy it and hang it … there were some logistical problems to overcome. How would we get to it? Wow, there is a lot of dirt here that would get tracked in.
So we decided that to do it right, we needed to create a path to it and a patio underneath it. Given we had flagstone throughout our yard, it made sense to match it. Then we started doing the research to figure out how to install it ourselves. Uh yeah, that wasn’t going to happen. So I found a landscape company to come out and do it for us (anyone local looking for someone, we used Form To Function and they were fantastic). So here we go…
These photos were taken in 2011, the first fall that we were in our house. The area that we decided to put the Cacoon is behind the fire pit, under the large fir tree. Also please take note of the grey Adirondack chairs. That would be “yard improvement project #684” as well.
Here are a smattering of during photos – in the first one, it is hard to tell, but Jeremy moved two 250-350lb rocks off to the side to make room for the path and patio. I also pulled out a couple of azalea bushes and then we had to hack away at some tree roots. After that, you will see the guys putting in the gravel base that they then compacted down. Once that was done, they started laying the stone. Then the last three are the finished path.
And here is the final “staged” product. I planted some impatiens along side the path leading in and now we have the Cacoon hanging in there. It is an awesome spot for relaxing with a beer on a hot day! Also notice our wonderfully refinished Adirondack chairs around the fire pit. The nasty grey to now redish color is a huge improvement.
We don’t say hate.
Oh, Lisa. I so know what it is like to have one “small” project turn into a huge, expensive endeavor. But, it looks great and that is a super cool swing!
Hahaha, it gets even better. I will have another update tomorrow on our deck. I think my husband hates me!!! lolol