Before and After: Our DIY Deck

Happy (long) weekend, friends! I’m so excited for this 3-day weekend - it’s just what I needed. And to be honest, I’m excited to mark the transition to fall. Labor Day always feels like the unofficial end to Summer, but I’m okay with it. I’m ready for cooler temps and this may be controversial, but longer nights too. 

However, before we get there I want to share this project with you - it’s pretty much the opposite of the coming cold weather. It’s our deck! We built this earlier in the Summer and I’ve been waiting to post about it because I wanted to get the rest of the furniture we’re planning to add, some flower pots, and generally spruce it up. BUT, life got in the way, and over the last 6 weeks it just hasn’t happened. So, instead of waiting until it’s “perfect” to show you I’m putting it out there now. And we’ll all watch as it continues to evolve. But, this is what I want more of in the world. Process not perfection. And it’s so much sweeter to celebrate our wins together when we see all the work that goes into making it happen. 

We built the deck over about 6 weeks and shared more about the process in this post. It was a lot of work to squeeze into a short time frame, but so worth it. We celebrated by throwing a 4th of July party out there and had the best time. It was exactly why we wanted the deck. To have another space to eat delicious food while spending time with our friends and family. And man did it deliver! 

In the building post we didn’t talk much about the addition of the trash enclosure which also has a flower bed on top where we’ve planted a couple of herbs. Immediately we got a table and a couple chairs from Ikea. The table can seat 4 people and expands to fit up to 10. It’s amazingly huge! We also put up some string lights which provide the perfect ambiance as well as a light above the door. The last thing I did was move the green table from the foyer (remember, the Ikea desk I hacked) out there for extra counter space.  These photos are from our 4th of July party so there are some extra decorations that aren’t usually up. 

My plan for the future is to also get a small outdoor couch with a deck-safe fire pit. Even though I have a terrible green thumb I hope to try my hand at some large planters. And finally, we plan on moving our grill up here also. So, hopefully, next summer I’ll be able to share the final-final product with you. And if not, that’s okay too! 

Catch up with these posts:

Master planning our house
Designing our Deck
Building our DIY Deck

Sources: 

Table
Chairs
String lights (we used two 25-foot strands and it was perfect)
Party decorations (except the blue garlands, I reused the ones I made for this wedding shower)

Before:

After:

---