Sprucing Up Our Summer Deck

Welcome to our back deck...

It's only about twelve feet deep.  It's our little fenced-in heaven.  Lol!  

Do you detect some humor?  Making the best of what we have here!

There was a little strip of lawn here when we moved in.  I love grass but it was slightly sloped and not really good for anything, except mowing.  So, when a friend ripped out their wood deck we claimed all of the used boards to create our own little deck area.  

If you've been around P3 before you've probably figured out we love to recycle, reuse, and re-purpose whatever we can get our hands on.  Not just from a save-the-universe-one-tin-can-at-a-time perspective...but our budget is pretty slim right now and we don't want to let that stop us from having a good time and enjoying our space.  

...And this is why we've been creating this little "oasis" in our teeny tiny backyard!

A blue and brass SCALE holds a couple of plants atop a chippy green tray.  

This shelf was a roadside rescue ~ I believe it was a printer stand in it's former life.  

(It may have a date with a can of spray paint eventually.)    :)

I did several things to minimize the appearance of our never-ending fence line and add some color and interest:

•  I hung an old multi-pane window, which I sprayed the back of with Krylon's Looking Glass Paint.      The Looking Glass Paint makes it look like an antique mirror.  
• I hung one of our homemade CABINET DOOR-TURNED CHALKBOARDS on one side of the window.
•  An empty blue frame surrounds a hanging flower pot on the other side.  

Love It!!! 

I am delighted with these new chair pads!  They're so comfortable.

They were made from some very inexpensive beach towels.  

If you would like to see how they were created click HERE.

Just off the deck to the right is our free Craigslist hot tub.  

BEST FREE ITEM EVER!!

It took Scott some time and energy to get it up and running, but it was definitely worth it.  I think he invested less than $200 in parts and that's it...a new heating element and some hoses.  Nice, huh!?

The blue tubing along the fence are blue rope lights.  They wrap around the dining area all the way around to the end of the pool.  They look amazing at night. 

We are enjoying the vibrant, cool blues and greens out here.

Those are acrylic plates from Freddie's...nothing fancy.  ;)

Don't have to worry about them getting broken.  :)

The gate leads directly to the swimming pool.  

It was FINALLY hot enough to go in today.  

Woohoo!!!

Speaking of the gate...it used to be somebody's front door.  

Scott salvaged it from a demo and cut off the top (window portion), then added hinges and a latch to create this funky gate.  

I caught him sanding away at the paint and quickly put a halt to that... 

He was getting rid of all of the good stuff!  

I'm going to make a cute sign to go on the front....

"POOL AREA" or something fun.

Here's Scott manning the grill while Sadie holds down the fort.  

She's never far when the aroma of BBQ is in the air!  

Oh how I love that dog.  

Don't worry...I saved her some trimmings!