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I designed and built these privacy fences in my backyard...with a little help from my wonderful husband.  What a difference they make!  We absolutely love our back yard now.  We feel like we have a new room addition...and what a cathedral ceiling! 

Here's how I built my wood privacy fence: 

I used 94 - 1" x 4" pine boards and stained them, front and back, and used new and some old salvaged 2" x 4" boards to make the framing.

I dug the holes with a shovel (no post-hole digger), because the holes had to be big enough to hold up 8 foot tall posts, fence, and gate doors.  I mixed and poured 42 - 80 pound bags of cement and set the 8 -12 foot 4 x 4 posts all by myself, while my husband was at work.  I couldn't even lift the bags.  I pulled them out of the back of my SUV, one by one, right into the wheel barrow.  Then I broke open the bag enough to dump out the cement mixture, so I could then pour the water in and mix it right in the wheel barrow, and dump it into the holes.

This is what it looked like after I set the antique window in place.  This beautiful leaded glass window is a yard sale treasure that I found for only $7.00.  I later painted it brown to match the fencing.  With this particular section, I screwed the boards in after the framing was hung.  I put together the other panels on the ground and then attached them to the side frames, because it was much easier to do it that way.

My husband, Greg, couldn't believe it!  "What, didn't you think a woman could do this?  Now, get in the kitchen and bake me a pie…just kidding!”

I really couldn't have done it without Greg's help.  I'm not too good at math, so he showed me how to make the arches, because they all needed to be even at the top and bottom of the arches, but were all different widths.  He also helped me assemble and hang the huge heavy garden gate doors.  Greg has his own projects going...check out his web site at www.greghansenmusic.com .     

The bottom portion of the bar is a big box I had someone build years ago to hide our unsightly pool filter.  It has heavy-duty wheels and just rolls out, so we can easily service the filtration system.  It also cuts down on the noise.  

I removed the old top and made a sturdy extended bar top, using some marine plywood and cement board, and then tiled it.  The brackets you see are some old plant brackets I already had.  I primed the old weathered wood box and gave it a much needed faux finish facelift.

I bought this big long shelf at a yard sale for $3.00 and had been storing it up in my attic for a long time.  I gave it a faux finish and attached these bunny hooks that I found at a discount store for only $2.00 a piece.  They were originally silver, but I painted them with a black oil-based paint and rubbed off some of the paint, so a little of the silver underneath would show through, giving them a worn antiqued look.  Now we have a unique and handy towel and robe rack out by the pool.

I stained the potting table to match.  When we have pool parties we fill the sink up with ice and drinks.  I used a water-proof epoxy to affix a long hose to the sink drain underneath, and positioned it so the water drains away from porch, as the ice slowly melts.

I already had this mirror window with the shelf in my laundry room,  but I thought it would serve a much better purpose out on our new patio.  I attached window shutters on either side to match the other faux windows I put on the large fence sections.  I hung it on the opposite end of our pool area so it reflects the pool area.   I found these shutters in my neighbors garbage a few years ago and thought that I would eventually make something out of them...I was just about ready to get rid of them, but just in the nick of time...I was able to use them.   I had just enough shutters to make all the faux windows, and had some spare wood to make the shelves.

If you need more detailed step-by-step instructions on how to build other unique, high end, privacy fences, go to your search engine and enter in exactly what you're looking for, i.e., "custom privacy fences" or "custom garden gates", or "privacy fences" or "garden gates".  Then, when you come to the search page, click on the "images" tab up at the top, you will see tons of pictures of garden gates, and privacy fences.  I did a search before I built mine, so it gave me an idea of what I wanted in my design.  I just combined several things that I saw, and then came up with my own ideas.    

Please note:  Before building or digging, make sure you get the appropriate building permit(s).  And also make sure there are no gas, electric, telephone, cable, water lines, etc. below.

Hey, check out the Bladeater® holster I invented. It has a built-in blade snapper. Snaps and eats segmented utility knife blades using only one hand. Keeps new and used blades safely contained and off the floor.