Although we’re officially a few days into fall as I post this, the minor overhaul of our back deck was complete in time for our early July party and a summer of sunshine and barbecues. It may not represent our perfect vision for our back entertaining area, but it’s functional, safe and pretty inviting, too. The total cost for the job, including lumber, paint and accessories came in at about $575.
The big picture: When viewed from this angle, two things make the after shot so much better than the before. First, replacing the cement pavers where the former owner’s hot tub with sod. And second, repairing, cleaning and painting the deck, which cost about $300 for lumber, paint and supplies.
Safety first: This image shows the extended railing and repaired stairs. David wondered about a railing. But the stairs are so wide and shallow, I thought all we really needed was a visual barrier here — in the form of brilliant red begonias in a trio of terra-cotta pots I had sitting in the shed. There are four President’s Choice Gigantica begonias in each pot, purchased on sale at the Superstore for about $25.
A little more colour: I wanted large planters to flank our sliding patio doors and add another splash of colour to what is a very neutral space. Red, in varying shades, is the accent colour in nearly every room on our main floor and we wanted to extend that to the deck. I found these beautiful warm red pots at HomeSense for an unbelievable $25 apiece. The glaze also contains a bit of green and gold, which I picked up with my plant choices — orange king coleus, a feathery grass in burgundy, a taller green grass and an English ivy. Both the green grass and the ivy are perennials that I can add to my gardens. We love this mix of plants for its flowerless drama and colour (although David had his doubts when I was making my selections at the garden centre). We purchased the plants and sod (to replace the cement pavers) at Holland Valley Nursery, for a total of $130.
A little less colour: The back garage door was painted a deep red. Although the colour did fit our scheme, it attracted a lot of attention to a feature we really wanted to blend with its surroundings. We painted it the same neutral colour as the deck. David replaced the plywood step with one constructed of eight-by-12-inch patio stones and four-by-fours. A big improvement and a cheap one. We’d removed the stones from a rather ugly application around a garden bed in the back, the wood came from another deconstruction job and the gravel under the stones came from the base of the old cement pavers. A few bucks for brick sand was all we spent on this project.
Keep it simple: We used these light fixtures at our first home and we always liked the industrial look and the reasonable price ($17). We installed one next to the patio door. It provides more accent than functional lighting, so a spotlight on the far side of the deck provides additional lighting for tasks that require it.
