Paver Project Planning

We've already dubbed this summer the "year of the yard". We have a list of projects to work on, including this paver project below that we're in the planning stages of.

I've worked so hard on the inside of the house for the past few years, that the outside is feeling very left out. One area that we are realizing needs immediate attention is our small side yard. 

With the addition of my son's new basketball goal that he got for his birthday, we now don't have a place to store our eye-sore of a city-mandated garbage can {you know the kind: large & in-charge and stinky}. And after spending the better part of a week cleaning and reorganizing our garage {our kids "loved" spring break this year, heh, heh}, I refuse to store that enormous eye sore in there. But, I also feel bad making the neighbors have to stare at it. We had a little pallet area for it in the backyard for the first few years we lived here, but the backyard is far from every door. So garbage bags would pile up in the garage or by the back door until *someone* traipsed around the outside of the house to get to the garbage can. And don't even get me started on what a pain it was to lug a full dumpster all the way from the backyard to the curbside on trash day...half of the trek over our grass and across a French drain {smh}. So...we have been in need of a legitimate solution for quite some time. We're ready to build a paver area for it to sit on, next to the garage, up the side of our house.
I'm excited to be working with my friends at Spectracide on this project. They've made it easy for yard-workers and DIYers like us to Make the Smart Choice in lawn care. Their products cost less than the leading competitor, giving us more bang for our buck.

This is the area we're looking at using for our garbage can area. I plan to use Spectracide's Weed and Grass Killer to prep the area and remove all of the grass here before we start the actual patio.
Be sure to check out Spectracide's Facebook page here. They always have awesome daily lawn care tips & tricks, monthly sweepstakes and product giveaways, product information, videos and comparisons to competitors, and great savings {including a $2 coupon off Spectracide Weed & Grass Killer at Walmart and downloadable $5 rebate when you spend $20 on Spectracide products}. I'm also super excited about their new Bug & Weed Identifier mobile app {available on iPhone & Android}. You can take it around your yard with you to figure out what is messing with your grass...very cool!


After the Weed & Grass Killer does its thang, we plan to mimic the walkway in front of our home and install matching pavers over in this side yard.


This is the plan, as it stands right now. We'd like to add the pavers down, almost all the way down to the air conditioning unit. I'd also like to construct a small {but portable} lattice-type of screen to place on the side of the garbage can, to conceal it from the street. We're in the process right now of having the sprinkler system reconfigured for this project {something that I'd rather not tackle as a DIY...our yard would look like a bad game of Whack-a-Mole if I took this one on myself}.
So what do you think? How do you store your garbage can? And do you have a fun side yard at your house that could give us some more inspiration?
To all of my yard warriors, whether you are after a total yard overhaul or just want to keep your yard looking its best, visit the Spectracide Facebook page for tips and savings to get started.  
This is a sponsored conversation written by me on behalf of Spectracide. The opinions and text are all mine.

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and at Coastal Charm and Savvy Southern Style

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