Backyard Before Tour and Pool Makeover Plans

A breakdown of options to upgrade a basic, outdated vinyl liner in-ground pool and ideas to improve a backyard for beauty and function.

It’s been two years, and somehow I’m just now showing y’all our backyard. I have no excuse other than we’ve had pretty much nothing but the interiors on our brains.

But THIS is the summer! The summer of no longer neglecting our landscaping, of finally updating the pool that has been long overdue, and polishing this diamond in the rough to be the little oasis we know it is destined to become.

Behold our staycation pad:

UPDATE: See the final pool reveal here!

We are so very thankful for this backyard and all of the opportunities to gather with family and friends that it provides for us. And now that we’re able to set aside some time to focus our efforts on it, I thought I’d walk y’all through all that we have envisioned for this space.

When we first bought this house, we felt in over our heads with this pool (yep a pool pun… I went there). So we’ve had a pool maintenance guy ever since we moved in to show us the ropes and help us with the learning curve of owning a salt water pool. Plus, it’s cheaper for him to maintain it for us and use wholesale discounts on supplies than it is for us to do it ourselves. Win/win.

When he came to close up our pool in the fall, he told us the vinyl liner desperately needed to be replaced and we likely wouldn’t be able to go much longer with the existing one.

So here we are with a pool with its 11 year old liner that is just begging for some love.

The thing is we really don’t want to go broke spending tens of thousands on a luxury, pricey pool, but we still want to make it look modern and chic.

So we’re partnering with GLI Pool Products to give it a more high-end, modern but still budget-friendly look with a new liner since the technology has definitely come a long way since this old one was installed.

My little inner wannabe designer brain keeps envisioning a deep, dark look, so we’re leaning toward 4 designs from GLI Pool Products’ TrueStone Collection, which is why I reached out to them to see if they’d want to team up on this. I love how they’re so much more cutting edge and look more like real mosaic tile and stone than the others I’ve researched.

It allows you to customize your liner by mixing and matching walls, floor, steps, ledges, and anything else. And several of them have the texture of stone.

1. Obsidian

This design has a deep teal look and will create the biggest contrast, so I’m thinking this one is my favorite so far.

2. Blue Slate

I love the texture of this one and it has a gorgeous shimmer effect.

3. (left) Pearlstone

This liner makes the water look more true, bright blue, and I love the mosaic effect.

4. (right) Black Galaxy

I’m a big fan of this one’s modern, bold look.

We’ll be updating all of our drain covers, eyeball fittings, and skimmer too, so we plan to use their ColorMagic ones to make the liner look more blended and custom.

We were a bit worried that we’ve waited way too late in the season to start this project, but the liner will be manufactured, delivered, and installed within a span of about a week.

And since we have little ones, we’re getting a safety cover that is strong enough to hold a car when we close it up again. (Along with adding an additional safety gate.)

As for the rest of the yard, we’re still brainstorming ways to perk it up without overspending.

So far we’re thinking…

1. Digging up and hauling out some of the overgrown shrubs (and hopefully discouraging snakes to make themselves at home).

2. Removing the old fencing and installing new

3. Painting our pool shed either a bright white or a deep charcoal with white trim (and maybe one day transforming it further into an outdoor bar area).

4. Adding concrete stamping over the existing concrete to add the look of custom stone for not as expensive as the real deal.

Maybe eventually we’ll even add new patio furniture and build an outdoor kitchen though.

Really, when it comes to this backyard, we have a million tabs open with ideas, and even though we have no idea if we’ll actually be able to pull it off, we love dreaming about its possibilities.

We plan on holding onto this house for years though, so we have plenty of time to do it all.

But hopefully the next time you see this, the pool will at least have a whole new look. That’s the first step in the grand plan.

Do y’all have any big outdoor projects on your radar this summer? Or a pool you’re ready to dive into? I’m so ready to give ours a test drive the minute this new liner is in.