We hated it. The biggest eyesore in the backyard. We asked the seller to remove the eyesore, aka above ground pool, during our negotiations. They agreed on some of our requests but ridding the pool was not one of them. In hindsight, I’m so glad they declined!

When we met our next door neighbors for the first time, they mentioned how lucky we were to have a pool. They, too, have an above ground pool. It wasn’t swampy looking like ours though. “Oh no,” I remarked. “That pool of ours is disgusting. They didn’t keep up with it. The wood deck also looks so old and unsafe.” The wife responded, “Oh honey, it gets hot around here in the summer. You’re gonna want to keep it.” What I failed to mention during conversation was my utter disdain for above-ground pools. Don’t be offended if you have one, I’ve grown to embrace ours. In fact, we’ve gone out of our way to accommodate it during our recent outdoor renovations.

Here is a photo of how our pool and old pool deck looked when we first bought our house:

How did we change our mind about keeping pool? Well, we experienced sweltering weather conditions during our first 2 summers in our home. Seeing our neighbors float on their pool while we stared at our swampy eyesore was definitely motivation for us to do something about it. Before we could even refill the pool with fresh, clean water, the pool had to be emptied. Decomposing leaves had to be swooped from bottom of pool. The sediments in the pool reeked like raw sewage! Fortunately, I was only a bystander in this project. Chris did all the cleanup. All, that is, except for scooping up the dead, bloated squirrel from the pool. EEK! During the clean up, our helpful next door neighbor stopped by to check on Chris’s progress. Chris casually mentioned about a dark, mysterious object floating in pool. Could it be a kid’s toy? Curious to what it was, our neighbor scooped the “pool-kill” out with the net he grabbed off the ground. Chris lucked out.

Over the years, we’ve thrown numerous pool parties in our home (typically for July 4th holiday). Three years ago, we decided it was time to rip out the old pool deck and replace it with a slightly bigger (much sturdier) new wood deck. Here is how our pool area looks today:

Adding palm plants, decorative signs, and flowers around the deck beau-tee-fies the pool deck. 🙂

Next year, our pool will need to be replaced since one of the panels is rusting out. It will again be replaced by an above-ground pool and I’m fine with that. I’ve grown to love our pool, albeit “above ground” and all. It represents a metaphor for so many things in life and the home:

“Sometimes you can’t change everything. You may have to work around your limitations. That doesn’t mean that the results can’t be rewarding or beauteeful.”

By the way, I’ve got some other plans for our humble above ground pool in the near future. Let’s just say the exterior around the pool may be a nice contemporary wood grain or stone facade. The wheels are always turning around here. 😉

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Thanks for reading! Xoxo, Tee.

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