Our Backyard Updates: Retractable Awning

It’s now been 4 years since the pool was installed! Can you believe that? We can’t believe it’s been that long, but it sure has flown by. We’ve so enjoyed our backyard resort with our pool and the grandkids sure love it. It’s a wonderful gathering space for family and friends and last weekend, we had a few friends over, so I took some pics while everything was out and looking good. With all the rain we tend to have, I don’t keep my cushions out all the time, but bring them out as needed. We had a beautiful summer afternoon that day and I was relieved the rain held off. I also have a fun update to share with you, a remote controlled retractable awning that we had installed a few weeks ago.

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We are fortunate to have those beautiful woods behind us (Corp of Engineer lake property) that we get to enjoy and look at everyday. They provide a lot of shade for our backyard which would be baking if not for their leafy limbs. Mark was able to cut down 2 of the worst culprits in the woods next to our pool that were causing the most leaves dropping into our pool every fall, with the approval of the Corp, so that was a happy day for us.

The furniture out here is the same as when I did this patio in 2020, hard to believe that too! This backyard has been a series of projects, some hired out and some DIY’d over the last 9 years we’ve been here. The underdeck room was finished in 2020 and the pool built in 2022, so we have sure enjoyed our backyard space all these years. Mark bought me that swing bed as a Christmas present one year and I have gotten a lot of mileage out of it. It’s my favorite space in the backyard! If you’re curious about our pool build, I did a whole post on it with cost breakdown too. It’s not inexpensive to build a pool, but we are so grateful to have it.

If you are new here, Mark built the shutter wall in 2020 to finish off this space and we have Phantom Screens to screen off this room when we want to. I still love this little under deck space!

I also did a DIY project back then by doing a faux tile project with paint on the patio and it has all held up SO well.

I worked with Furniture of Dalton back then to get much of this furniture to finish off the patio and it has been a joy to have it all finished and working so well. I’ve been so fortunate as a blogger to work with so many brands over the years and most of the backyard was furnished with sponsored products. I’m so grateful for that!

We enjoy sitting in these rocker reclining chairs by the pool very often at night.

I cut some fresh hydrangeas since company was coming over.

And added these 2 pretty runners to the table that I picked up a few years ago. They are no longer available.

Now for the fun addition to the patio! We have talked a few years about getting a retractable awning for the sectional sofa space. You might remember I did a sponsored project with a company at my old house for a pretty cantilever umbrella. That was 10 years ago and it was still going strong! It had to go behind the sectional and so we always wanted to get a retractable awning to go here and finally did it this year. I found this Destin awning by Awntech and priced it out for the size I wanted (12×10′) and bought it at Walmart. Mark didn’t want to tackle installation (it’s heavy!) so I found a good handyman to install it and he did a great job. All in, it was $2,405 for the awning. Installation with electrical outlet added was $678. It was well worth it to have a remote controlled awning! We will only use it when we are out there and if wind kicks up or it rains, it will be retracted for safety.

At 12′ side, it covers the entire sofa and comes out 10′ giving us plenty of shade for this area. We were very happy that our lights can still hang underneath and the awning comes over them. This rug is from Home Depot and has held up 6 years. This sectional that began life with me at my old house, is from AE Outdoor and I got it in 2015, so it’s definitely holding up great. I take the cushions into the basement every winter.

Now for the rest of the backyard. I got all my planters planted in April and they are really growing well.

They add a lot of color to the backyard.

I bought these new planters at Lowes and they are 20×20″ square. If you remember, I had white ones and had spray painted them gray, but they weren’t holding up so I bought these. Many of my things out here are at least 10 years old, so I’ve gotten my money’s worth.

Our pool gets a lot of action in the summer months and the grandkids sure love it. They love it being heated just like I do!

My hydrangeas got a little frostbitten this year, but still look pretty good. The ferns are looking great too.

We’ve so enjoyed the artificial turf we had installed when the pool was done.

Love my blooms! I bought cordyline and Rios as the centerpiece for all of them this year at Home Depot.

The backyard oasis!

Nighttime is when the magic happens. We so love these fairy lights (fireworks lights) that we get on Amazon. We have a couple different brands, but the ones we have are more expensive right now. We have these lights, but these are cheaper now and look the same.