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!

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Easy and Inexpensive Deck Chair Pad

 Check out our plain old deck chairs.  

Before you make fun of them you should know they were a bargain.  Four chairs, a table plus a shade umbrella were only $99.  We've had them for a few years and they work great for outdoor dining or hanging on the patio with a glass of lemonade (or a margarita ~ that sounds so good!).  The backs recline and they weather well ~ which is important here in the Pacific Northwest ~ because you never know when it's going to rain.  Well, actually, it's more like you never know when you might get some sunshine!   The woven seat was just not very comfy for lounging.  (Can you picture the lovely woven imprint they left on our thighs?  Not cool.)

How about these chair pads?  How sad is this picture with the schlumpy chair cushion?  These just won't work!!!

So, when I saw the adorable blue striped towels on sale at a department store for $2.99 each I thought, "I can do something with these!"

Let's see what I can do...

You know, for sitting around sipping lemonade (or margaritas!!!).

I am LOVING the stripes...COOL!

I took my scissors to the two old pads and cut off the covers.  I ended up with four pads that I cut down to the size of the chair seats.  No going back now!

I laid the towel down wrong side up, put the pad on top of the towel, then folded the towel back over the top of the pad.   I cut the excess towel off ~ leaving enough fabric to fit over the pad as well as about a 3/4 inch seam allowance on each side for stitching closed ~ plus extra for turning and hemming the rough-cut edges.  (Big breath after that run on sentence!)

I turned the rough edges up TWICE and pinned them that way ~

Then I sewed a new hem where I had cut the towel down to size ~

After the hems were done I folded the towel with wrong sides together, placed the pad inside and sewed the entire piece closed along the previous hems...doing this left the previous hems to resemble double "welting" ~

 First one done!  Only three more to go...  Check it out ~

These cushions are so soft and comfortable for our hineys.  No more imprints!!!

Perfect for basking in the sun...whenever that day finally comes.........................................................oh, forgive me,
I got lost in that fantasy for a minute!

And I'm playing around with some accessories to liven up the space.  I will show you the complete transformation when I'm done, but here are a few of the things I'm tossing around ~

An empty blue frame surrounding a garden art plaque...hmmm...not sure yet...

A couple of signs from Target's dollar section ~

...some .50 cent garage sale lanterns hanging from plant hangers ~ battery powered candles for ambiance.

Can't wait to show you the space when it's done!

Big HUGE thanks to Beckie Farrant for sharing our Raised Garden Bed on Roadkill Rescue...go take a look and please don't forget to tell Beckie that Sherry from P3 sent you!  

You can see her post HERE

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