Kate gets down and dirty (and a serious work-out!) transforming her boring backyard into a stylish garden retreat.

What started out as a simple garden tidy-up escalated into bigger and better things when we decided to tackle an entire courtyard in order to get some outdoor entertainment elbow-room.

Little did I know that I was about to embark on my first real physical DIY adventure, getting down and dirty with concrete trucks, cursing blisters from shovelling and discovering muscles I never knew I had!

If you don’t mind getting your heart rate pumping and enjoy a bit of good old manual labour, then I recommend taking on your own courtyard makeover DIY-style. Although your back may never be the same – putting your feet up in a cosy courtyard at the end of the day is certainly worth the effort!