Chairman

In a get 'er done fashion usually not observed in this household, I bought stain and had the deck chairs stained in a matter of days. Perhaps it happened so quickly because I hired it out to my brother, whom I've not paid for the job...sucker*! Anway, the chairs were a satisfying before and after project - going from a weathered finish that was flaking off to a nice looking charcoal opaque stain - and he did it all in an afternoon. I've officially decided projects you don't actually have to do, but benefit from are the best.



But now that the chairs are spruced up and set out, I've got a few other things on my upper deck to-do list before this fortress of solitude has reached maximum solitudity or optimal solitudeness.




{Resources}
Bench and cushion . World Market
Planter . Brookstone
Climbing plants . Moonflower vine, though the ones in this pic were added in [via]
Chairs . CB2 (previous season) in Olympic stain Deep Charcoal
Bench & chair pillows . Crate and Barrel (both real and added in ones)
Ceramic planters . Tuesday Morning or Home Goods
Topiary . Lowes

*Also, Happy Birthday today to my brother Drew!

Bench Warmer

In my master design scheme, I had grand plans to whip up a bench using my construction know-how. Slight problem: I don't have construction know-how. I quickly realized that other parts of this plan were lacking: 1) were the planters flanking this bench going to crowd the ever shrinking deck space? 2) was this bench going to be wide and sturdy enough to nap on? 3) who was going to make the cushion for this bench? me? heh. The arguments against the whole DIY plan were stacking up (I know, in the blogging community it is all about DIYing. I am an anomaly, my friends.)

Enter World Market and their selection of very affordable furniture*. I just happen to be wandering into my local store branch and found their Laguna deep bench with cushion to be exactly what I needed: wide enough to nap on, a similar grayish color tone of the Sawyer chair and reasonably priced. I sat on it, I laid on it - my germaphobe self doesn't want to think about how gross this really is - I took a picture, I walked out the store and convinced myself to think about it and get the buy-in from Daniel.

Fast forward to me being totally set on buying the bench - coupon printed and tucked into my back pocket - only to find the bench is on super sale. Done. Bought. Soon to be in my possession. The deck gods want this, I can tell.

*Though you would never know it, this post is NOT sponsored by World Market. However, they know where to find me if they want to lavish me with free goods...

Decked Out . Part II

 Now that I've got everything sorted out on the upper deck - at least on paper - I am ready to get the lower deck all figured out.












The lower room is an outside dining room, screened in so none of those pesky mosquitoes can crash our fine dining experience. We also took onboard some sage advice and had a ceiling fan and light installed, as well as an outlet. All we need now is a few items to make it dining room ready:


Drapes >
I have to confess I love outside drapes. They just seem so tropical and luxurious, like a little taste of resort style. In our case, the drapes would also serve to diffuse the summer evening sunset that hits right around dinner time. I am eyeing these drapes from Pottery Barn pretty hard.

Table and Chairs >
A girl's gotta eat. These chairs from Crate and Barrel (last season) are simple, bright and durable. I love the lines and storability of this table from Ikea. Though we have a table now, it is a stand-in until we can take the plunge and upgrade to a outside table.

Rug >
The simple design of this outdoor rug has me smitten. It doesn't look like a faux heirloom and you can hose it off to clean it!

Accessories >
I got a heavyweight tablecloth on sale last year from Anthropolgie, originally to put out on the deck dining table. I am really rethinking this because it looks fabulous on my inside dining room table and - let's don't be silly - who puts something from Anthropologie outside?

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.

The new deck

When we bought our house 4 years ago, I mentally slated the deck for demolition and replacement before the ink was dry on the closing papers. A few years back I got really gung-ho on the project and brought in some specialists to get quotes on what a replacement double-decker would run us. The shock must have registered on my face as the salesman gathered his brochures and samples and quickly headed for the door once he realized there was no way I was going to matriculate into a real sale. Recently we realized the deck - actually I am not sure the previous structure counted as a deck - had declined further into disrepair and either needed to be replaced or condemned. Nails were popping out of the wood, the stairs creaked with a threat of caving at any moment, the railing held itself in place with a real half-assed attitude of 'take it or leave it.' We saved our pennies and took the plunge.

First, we dream. We wanted a two-story deck measuring 12'x12' with the bottom deck being screened in. I also thought stairs running the length of the deck with screen doors that opened up half the length of the deck (running on hidden tracks) would be cool. My dad rendered a scale drawing of the deck, with his added touches, like the roof on the upper deck. Ahhh, a girl can dream.


My original plan had some holes in it, quite literally. It was pointed out the sliding doors would be near impossible to get flush, leaving a gap for bugs to get in and what's the point of a screened in deck if bugs still get in? Also, my little touches added to the bottom line. Quickly. So, we scaled back, but kept the screened bottom deck and also added underdecking to the ceiling of the bottom deck so it would stay dry. I am now going to fast-forward through the rest of our story (5 months and several small hurdles later) to unveil the gem of the backyard:




Add the screen, underdecking and some furniture...voila!


When this heatwave we call summer subsides I have lots of plans for pretty much living on this deck.