As the weather begins to heat up and I start to feel the long, hot summer bearing down on me, finding ways to create a backyard oasis for my family to enjoy is always at the top of my “honey-do” list.

In years past, my wife and I have planted a few trees, purchased some so-so patio furniture and tossed a kiddie pool and Slip ‘n’ Slide in the backyard for the kids. But now that our kids are a little older and our time together includes multiple family barbecues and casual get-togethers each summer season, we have finally decided to make our ramshackle backyard into an outdoor retreat that really suits who we are and how we live.

Since we’ve been in our home for several years and housing prices in our neighborhood have skyrocketed recently, we thought it was time to take out a home equity line of credit (also known as a HELOC). By using the equity we have built up in our home over the years, we were able to create the backyard we’ve always dreamed of.

The home equity process was quick and simple. All we had to do was find out how much our home was worth, what our payoff was and provide a few other bits of information – and in no time we were off and running! Our home improvement line of credit application took just a couple of minutes to complete – and within seconds of completing our online application, our HELOC loan was approved.

After a few short days we received our home equity line of credit Visa Cards (one in each of our names) from Chase Home Equity. Making purchases could not have been easier; all we had to do was use our Visa Cards to purchase the things we needed to make the most of our HELOC funds.

Being a do-it-yourselfer, I took on the task of landscaping my new backyard, but I hired contractors for the built-in barbecue area for our summer get togethers and our big, new pool and spa to replace the kiddie pool and Slip ‘n’ Slide.

While I was a installing brick borders and planting the fruit and shade trees for our new summer oasis, my wife took her home improvement line of credit Visa to purchase the perfect patio furniture so we could replace our weathered and splintering wooden furniture. She also managed to buy some outdoor dinnerware and a few fun pool accessories for all our summer parties.

The pool and barbecue are nearly complete now – and with a couple of months before summer officially begins. Because of the quick turnaround on our home improvement line of credit from Chase, we’ll be able to enjoy the entire summer by the pool.

If you’re faced with another summer of barren backyards and sub-par patio furniture yourself, it’s not too late to have the backyard retreat of your dreams completed before summer begins. Just apply for a home equity line of credit and your perfect backyard could be well within your reach – and at a better interest rate than you would get using a regular credit card.