One Day Project: Wood + Stone Walkway

The only thing that really bothers me about our little urban oasis, is the lack of a back door. Anyone who knows me, knows I could spend all day every day in my tiny postage stamp of a yard. But in order to get there, I have to go through the side door, traverse across the soupy grass, before finally reaching the deck. While a back door is out of the budget for now, Lori and I came up with another solution that looks incredible (and it was free!)

Before

One day project: wood + stone walkway

Materials:

- treated or composite wood

- stone or gravel

- heavy plastic or landscaping fabric

- garden edge (optional)

- tools (shovel, wheel barrel, rake, saw)

Lori raking the ground flat

We started by marking with the garden hose where we wanted to path to be and then dug out little square patches of grass to be relocated to bare patches in the yard. Then we did our best to smooth out the dirt (all in the pouring rain🤦🏻‍♀️) and laid out the plastic + edge. Next, using some leftover scrap wood from our deck, we cut them to size and laid them out. Finally, we scooped up the rocks and placed them around the wood! After a hose down and some sunshine it’s a whole new space!

Scooping leftover rocks from the French drain.

Note: none of this was really done “right”. For a more sturdy walkway, be sure to level the steps with sand or anchor them in place. As Lori always says, “you can do it right, or you can do it right now.” 😜

Filling in stones around the steps

The best part about this project (aside from the fact that it only took a few hours) was that the materials were relatively free! We used leftover rocks from our French Drain project, leftover plastic from our DIY Greenhouse, and leftover pieces of wood from our Free Deck! Granted, it was a miracle we found all this stuff in the first place. But it is possible to find materials for close to nothing!

After

To top it all off, we found these perfect little solar lights at Walmart for under $1! That's cheaper than the dollar store right now! Get yours here.

Pathway at night Follow us on Instagram @houseonmelgrave for more projects and updates!

Watch our YouTube channel for project videos and tutorials! https://www.youtube.com/channel/UClQbAZzObnB-kLJh5PRSKMg Your friendly neighborhood DIYer, Bailey