We turned our hideous backyard into an oasis – installing our own gazebo tested our marriage but it survived a hurricane
A COUPLE revealed how they transformed their once “hideous” backyard into an oasis.
Ashley said the change wasn’t easy — but even though installing the gazebo tested the limits of her marriage, the strong structure ended up surviving a hurricane.
Ashley (@mrsashleyfrench) shared the home renovation in a video with over 200,000 TikTok followers.
“Earlier this year, my dream was to turn our hideous backyard into a gorgeous backyard oasis where we could make family memories,” she explained.
The first step the couple took was to have a large paver patio installed.
“It was too large of a space to do ourselves so we did have a company install them,” she said.
For grass, they had sod delivered and laid across their backyard.
Ashley headed out to her local nursery to pick out plants that would thrive in warm weather and planted them against her back fence for a beautiful backdrop against their yard.
After the basics were laid in place, the two began assembling their gazebo with concrete planters.
“We did this in the dead of summer in Florida and the metal roof panels were registering over 120 degrees,” she said.
“It took us two whole days and it really tested our marriage.
“We did get a direct hit a couple of months ago from Hurricane Ian and we had absolutely no issues with the gazebo flying away,” she said, crediting the concrete planters.
For the finishing touch, she added fake plants to the planters and hung up lanterns in the gazebo for atmosphere.
People took to the comments to share their thoughts on the project.
“I love love love this you all did a great job,” said one commenter. “It gives me mini ideas for my own yard.”
“Thank you for sharing about the hurricane,” said another.
“I live in SE Georgia and I’m always wondering what stuff will hold up!”