Have you ever watched those shows about renovating yards and thought that you wish you could do that? Thats where I was last year with the poor me syndrome. Then one day I woke up and decided to put my budget together and see what I could do. I am so glad I did because I have come a long way since that first day!

I sat down and determined what I was skilled to do and also what the friends in my circle were skilled to do as well and found that between all of us, we had a lot of experience! I didnt necessarily think they would help me, though I was sure they would, I just wanted to know where I could get some good advice from people that I trust.

I was always taught you have to start with the end in mind so the wife and I sat down on an afternoon and went over everything we could possible want. We had things from trellises to raised beds to a shed and a greenhouse. We also included an expansion on the deck.

When you look at a project like this it is easy to get discouraged by the shear amount of work. I called in a friend who is in the construction business and he suggested we do the hard stuff first; deal with the fence and deck. So I expanded the fence to the borders of our property and made the deck larger as well.

Once we did the hard work and got the expansion completed and fence moved we sealed it all and placed some great post caps and finials on the posts as well as some deck lighting. It really looked great and we had just started with the changes.

As things have progressed since then we have made great progress. We purchase what we want in kit form and move on from there. Doing it this way has worked out great. We arent finished and just chip away at it as we can. Even though its not complete its far better than it was this time last year.

What I love about the kits is they come ready to assemble and install. Of course the shed took longer to put together than the raised beds but it was still quicker than I had thought it would be. Weve been able to do the renovations that we choose to do at the rate we can afford. We think we will be completely done by the end of summer this year. Im almost sad because I have had a blast and Ill have to find something else to do. My wife is thinking kids are next; Im thinking a new kitchen!