Kiddie Corner
When my husband and I moved into our house, everything was a bit of a mess. It was previously being rented out and the owners told us they had freshly sodded both the back and front yards half a year ago, but the renters hadn't wanted to water it. Since everything had long since died, our back yard is currently like one giant sand box (thank you, Florida "soil"!) waiting for new grass yet again. Although I don't really have any problem with the boys digging away in our giant sand box, we are putting in irrigation and new sod by spring and I needed something that would remain "their" area after it was all finished. I looked around at different ideas on kid's corners, but wasn't really interested in concrete or sand so this left mulch and wood chips. I liked this option the best anyway because it's difficult to fling wood in big hand fulls at other kids, get (what feels like) a small beach dumped out on your kitchen floor when they take their shoes off, and it is SO much cheaper than concrete (not to mention easier to remove if we change our mind!).
Clear It Out:
There were a bunch of pavers and plastic white fence pieces so the first thing I did was cleared out the whole corner. One thing I never realized before moving to Florida is that if your fence is over a year old it will look exactly like the one in the picture above does: ancient. Moving from California and the dry heat, it never ceases to amaze me that humidity and water really has a huge effect on the fences around here.
Set Up Frame:
I went to Home Depot and picked out two pieces of 2inx8inx10ft of *pressure treated* wood. Make sure it's pressure treated so that it won't rot as quickly outside! I set them up as shown above and made sure they were at a 90 degree angle with the fence. Then I secured everything with L brackets. I put my L brackets on the outside because things tend to rust rather quickly in Florida and I wanted to see when they were rusty so I could change them out.
Weed Barrier Fabric:
Don't forget to put down that ground fabric! I'm always tempted to skip this part due to laziness and know that I will instantly regret it. We landscaped the front yard and I have enough problems with the weeds that get through the fabric, I can't imagine what it would be like if I didn't have anything to block the majority of them! I bought about two rolls of this fabric and also the stakes.
Wood Chips
It took me about 10-12 bags of woods chips (or mulch) to get a nice layer over the entire thing. I would even say that if you wanted to fill it up to the top that you should go with about 15-17 bags. I also put some pavers against the fence to give the kids something to stand on while they drew on the giant chalk board that I made. You are also probably wondering why I left the tree stump, which brings us to the fun part: finishing touches!
Finishing Touches:
I ended up using a lot of the pavers I cleared out of the corner to make a hop scotch next to the little corner. I also put in a balance beam screwed to two other pieces of wood for support, and some pieces of brick in the corner of the mulch to make a construction area for the boys' trucks! Check out the original idea here. I put long screws into the main beam in the fence for a place to hold buckets, watering cans, and that awesome (but a little obnoxious if I'm being honest) lawn mower.
My husbanded ended up using the chainsaw to cut the tree stump down a bit and I bought this table top from Home Depot and sprayed the top with chalk board spray paint. I finished the other side with polyurethane (to make it water resistant). Then I attached it to the stump with the same L brackets I used to secure the wooden frame.
I sprayed a hardboard 2ftx4ft with the same spray paint to make the large chalk board that hangs on the side of the fence. Although, I would have gone with a thicker piece because I don't think it will hold it's shape with the amount of rain we get. A project to re-do later!
I can't wait to repost the "Finished Product" picture when we have actual grass, but for now I am over the moon with how many hours my little guys use this space! It is the biggest hit with friends who bring over their little ones, and with the small swing set close by, we can have all the kids in one area without ever feeling like they are on top of each other. For the amount of money and time I spent, this project has been one of the best decisions I've done for our yard!
True Confessions:
This project took less than a day to do.
There was no swearing involved (I wish I could say the same for the couch cover I sewed last month).
The real reason I decided not to go with sand is because we are surrounded by neighbors who have cats that run wild and I didn't want this area to turn into a giant litter box. That being said, I still occasionally smell cat pee/poop... any ideas on how to get cats to stay out of your yard???
Hope your little sweeties enjoy their own space as much as mine do! Here are a few more ideas I'd like to do when I have the time:
