Decked Out - Part I

Last summer's major project was tearing down the existing back porch and building a bad mamma-jamma double deck. If you want to split hairs, we actually hired a deck company to do it and this isn't going to be one of those DIY kind of posts. The only thing I know about deck building is best techniques for hounding local government offices for a building permit approval, staining the wood and picking out furniture. The hounding part is pretty self explanatory - I suggest being annoying enough to get your your permit approved quickly, but not annoying enough to make them do a bureaucratic equivalent of spitting in your food. As for the staining, my expert advice is to plan for it to take more stain and time than you thought. With two topics down, we can now focus on the best deck topic of all: picking out furniture!












As of today the deck has 2 chairs and a cat on it. The cat is temporary. I envision the upper deck as being a 'fortress of solitude' with lots of plants and a decent amount of privacy. Behold, my master plan:


Planters >
Sprinkled throughout the corners and along the perimeter will be assorted planters with flowers and herbs. I may invest in a few self-water conversion kits to place in the bottom of the planting pots to help with keeping the plants less dead.

Bench >
This is a bit of a wish list item, but I would love to recreate this bench as a daybed. I envision the same design with a cushion on top for encouraging cat naps. The legs are sturdy ceramic planters that will bring more greenery to the deckscape (is that a word?).

Self-watering plant trough >
This investment has me feeling pretty darn smart. The plant troughs will line the west side of the deck with taller plantings for privacy and the self-watering feature will definitely help with maintenance since getting water to an upper deck isn't the easiest of tasks.

Adirondacks >
I snapped up two Sawyer chairs last summer from CB2 because I liked the modern take on the familiar adirondack design and the cool, gray stain.

Umbrella >
No fortress of solitude is complete without some reprieve from the sun (well known fact). Naps are so much more enjoyable when one doesn't get burnt to a crisp.