A few weekends ago we did some work in our side yard to make it feel more like a yard and less like rock pile. When we first signed our lease, the duplex was incomplete and the side yard just had dirt. We knew they were going to put rock down, so we asked them to just leave it empty so we could do what we wanted with it.

However, we were not shocked when we moved in and noticed they had ignored our request and put the rock in the side yard anyways. We left it that way for a couple of months, and as soon as the cooler weather started moving in, we made plans to lay sod. I started during the week moving what rock I could with a shovel, and when the weekend rolled around, I loaded the fridge with beer and invited our good friend over to help. I picked up the sod while the hubs and his friend were at work, and once they were off, it was time to come work for me! This process actually took two weekends, one to move the rock and one to lay the sod, as the construction crew seemed to think that our yard was their trashcan. We found sheet rock, coke cans, strips of metal and everything else you could think of under the rock.

Laying the sod took no time at all, as both my husband and his friend had done this last year at the baseball field. I was so excited once it was finished and loved the result. But the makeover didn’t stop here.

I also bought these string lights at Target to hang above our porch. With the addition of some pretty awesome lighting and little grass for the pup, our yard finally feels more like a place to relax than a place to avoid.

And I just love the way it looks at night! I have actually noticed that a few other families on our street that also live in the duplexes have since hung string lights, but so far, we are the only ones with grass for our four-legged son!

We left half of the yard rock because we figured the small amount we put down was good enough for Bronx. And since we bought such a high-quality turf (to match what the builder laid in the front yard), it cost a little more and we didn’t want to have to spend that much to sod the whole side yard. We also have plans for a fire pit, which will be safer in the rock area than on the porch or in the grass.