The Deck is Ready for Summer!

This is what our deck looked like this spring.  Pretty desolate…..didn’t exactly scream “have a party on me”.  Well all of that was going to change – slowly but surely!

It started with a trip to Fleet Farm.  We spotted a nice little add for a 6 chair patio set that drew our eye in.  We were drawn to the steel slats of the table, and the price at $500!  Similar sets we looked at on trips to Home Depot and Lowes easily doubled the price.  So we hauled home several boxes and put some elbow grease into getting it all put together.

Then we went to the Home Depot garden center to get some greenery to brighten up the deck.  We picked up four bags of Miracle-Grow for two big planters that would find a home on our deck. 

Then we picked out some monochromatic marigolds in hues of yellows and oranges.  I got two large crates of the yellow and several small bins of the oranges.   

After searching high and low we picked out these faux barrel planters.  I actually overlooked these at first, but upon closer inspection I fell in love.  They look casual and quaint and will fit perfectly onto our deck.    

Before we got to planting the barrels with beautiful flowers my hard working hubby got to work.  We drilled several holes around the perimeter of the planters to help the water drain out because there were no existing holes. 

Next I filled the bottom of the planters with plastic pieces so we could conserve on dirt.  The four bags of soil were able to fill the two planters with some to spare after we put the plastic in the bottom.  I divided out the flowers and we were ready to get the planting party started!

Here is the beautiful view of the flowers from the sidewalk as you are coming up on the deck.  It is a nice pop of color to the rest of the browns on the deck.

Here is another view entering the deck – do you see the grill in the background?  Yup, we are ready for some serious barbequing!

As you can see we decided to get two rocking chairs (with the round bottoms) for the deck and the rest stationary leg chairs.  The hubby and I were just being selfish – but practical.  Buying four of the six chairs stationary cut down on costs of the set.

Here is a close up of the colorful flowers .  Marigolds are pretty sentimental to me because they were my grandpa’s favorite flower.  Growing up we always had planters of Marigolds spread around our deck.  Since planting the yellow ones have really sprouted up, but I am hoping the other tones of gold and orange will catch up soon.

We have already spent so much time on the deck since buying the set in early spring, which makes it a purchase that was totally worth it!  It seems so much more spacious and user friendly than our small bistro set.  Don’t get us wrong, we still love our bistro set, but it got a little cramped for dining.  And I have to say the rocking chairs are heaven to relax in after a long hard day. 

I hope we will add to the collection on the top of the table.  We bought the blue oil torch that sits on the table at Home Depot, which also adds some nice color to the brown on the deck.   

I like the uniqueness and character to the color and paint.  All in all we are really happy with the much needed upgrade to the deck!