My husband and I are in the planning phase for our backyard. We're in the city, the back is VERY small, approximately 25ft x 30ft fence to fence and house to garage. You can see in the pictures that there's not much worth keeping. We plan on eliminating everything but the lilac bush, grading the soil, and starting over. We thought we would have a deck built on to the back of the house, just deep enough for dining and a grill (10ft deep by 17ft), to elevate dining and free up yard space. But that doesn't seem feasible because we'd be building the deck over the stairs to the basement, and there wouldn't be the head room to walk down the stairs if a deck were there. So now I'm wondering if we can fit a patio space in the yard and still have a decent amount of grassy play space for our three (and counting) little kids. Ideally, I'd like grass bordered by plants, and a deck or patio for dining. Nothing fancy. But with our limited space, plus limitations brought on by location of basement door...am I asking for too much when it comes to a dining area?
Thanks for any suggestions!