Pool Progress: The Final Product

Guess I kinda left everyone hanging after my last pool progress update….we’ve been too busy enjoying it!  Here are some a lot of photos of the final touches.

I decided to go with a more neutral fabric for the patio set, rather than the bright red/yellow/blue stripe I previously picked up.  My mom made the cushion covers and I love the way they look with the furniture and pool! Oh, and we have GRASS!

We got one of the extra-large cantilever umbrellas from Wal-Mart, here it is all wrapped up:

Mom also made some coordinating pillows for the Adirondack chairs on the other side of the patio.  That little table is a tile with a vinyl fleur de lis and our last name that my friend made with her Cricut.

The rock garden with growing (hopefully!) plants and solar lights:

One of my favorite spots is over in the rock garden where we placed this gorgeous pot from a local nursery and ceramic ball from Hobby Lobby. 

On the opposite side is another palm, some hanging vinca, a lava rock planter and iron tiki torch.

The palm tree/leaf theme just happened to come about, first with the fabric, then with these cute hooks and thermometer I got on clearance at Hobby Lobby:

And then this cute solar lamp my mom found at the grocery store!

Here are some night-time pics:

That’s all, folks! Time to jump back in the pool!

Pool Progress: Day 29

We are swimming!!  I think we have been in the pool everyday for the past week.  Such a nice refreshment from the 100+ degree temps we have been having.  We worked hard this weekend to finish the landscaping and pathway.

We still have to set the stones in the sand grout and will probably get to that sometime next week.  For now, it is functional!

We picked up a load of creek rock to add to the landscaping on the backside of the pool and layed some sod around the perimeter. 

My mom helped make some cushions for the furniture, I changed the color scheme but don’t have any photos yet.   Looks like rain for the next couple of days, which is okay, we need it and are a little sun-whipped!

Pool Progress: Days 24-28

What an exhausting weekend! We got some hard work done in the back yard but still can’t get in the pool since the plaster is curing in an acid bath.  Hopefully it will be neutralized tomorrow and then all the pool chemicals will be added and we will be swimming by mid-week!  Here are some photos of the progress:

Full of water!

Pump is on and the water is circulating.  You can see the plaster is  darker than when it was first filled.

My mom helped with landscaping the backside of the pool.  We planted some fan palms and irises.  We still have to get the landscape fabric down and a layer of creek rock on top.

Hubby and Dad put up a fence to hide the equipment and A/C.

I decided on this patio set from World Market.  Thanks, Mom, for generously gifting it to us! I’m sure they will get almost as much use out of it as we will! I snagged the big canopy umbrella from Big Lots and the lounge chairs from Academy.

This stripe fabric on the cushion is actually an outdoor table cloth I found at Kohl’s.  I’m trying to decide if I want to make slip covers for the cushions with it or leave them white for now and then maybe cover them in a more neutral fabric this fall. Any opinions??

Up next, the flagstone walkway leading to the pool.  Hubby and I got about 3/4 of the way through and hope to have it finished in the next couple of days.

Pool Progress: Day 23

Although I don’t think too many of my readers are interested in the pool progress, I still want to document for us.  The pool was plastered on Tuesday and we began filling it that afternoon.

The guys walked around with special spiked attachments on their shoes while they were troweling on the plaster.

We chose a quartz plaster in a color called Mediterranean, which will give the water a dark blue look.  More like a “lagoon” style as opposed to the traditional crystal turquoise blue.

There will be a fence hiding the equipment and a/c unit eventually.  Add it to the long list of “fine tuning” we have to do!

Slowly filling up with water….

So even though we have a full pool now, we still won’t be able to swim in it for another week or so.  It has to sit in an acid bath in order let the plaster cure, then it has to be neutralized and chemicals added.  It will be chlorine for the first 30 days then the salt system will take over.

I’ll have more pics of it filled soon!

Pool Progress: Day 19

We have a patio!

It looks great and I can’t wait for it to be stained, it is really bright white right now! That probably won’t happen for several weeks, though.  Looks like there will be plenty of room for lounge chairs and a conversational set.  Now I’m just agonizing over what kind of patio furniture to get, any suggestions?!

Plaster is next and then it will be filled with water!