Welcome to our back deck!
What? You don’t want to come hang out and have dinner here?
Don’t worry! We didn’t either! Especially since it was sagging, boards were popping up everywhere, and in our home inspection we discovered that it wasn’t even anchored to the house properly! (Thankfully it is only a few feet off the ground, but still!)
Here was some of the problems – yes that part of the deck was actually sagging. Time to say goodbye to this deck and hello to a much bigger, better deck!
We finally saved up money and found the perfect handyman to build it for us 2 years ago in late July/August.. (Yes, I love DIY projects but this one was a little over my head to conquer all by myself. And my husband doesn’t have Saturdays off or else we would have declared it a 2 weekend project and called over lots of friends and family to help.) So we found a great handyman (who actually was a neighbor) and we were thrilled with how it turned out.
First came the demolition!
Woohoo! It was built and it was massive and gorgeous! Since we had to let the wood weather for a while before staining it we actually waited until spring to stain it.
Isn’t this so much better than those before pictures?? And it isn’t even decorated yet? 
Stain going on – Natural stain by Behr.
All done!
I also during this time gave the back door and trim a fresh coat of paint. What is up with the yellow trim – yuck!
I could have taped off but I find it easier to paint and then scrape it off with some Windex and a sharp spatula!
Ok, so are you ready for the after?!
Here it is!! A space that we love and can actually use now!
Now would you like to come over and have dinner and lounge on the deck?
I showed you how I made my vintage window into décor and a functional planter in this post.
And I will the pictures just speak for themselves and then explain where I got everything at the end.
My color-filled flower pots are filling in nicely and add a lot to the deck. (The red pot in the corner actually contains some mums that I planted last fall and they came back!)
So here’s the breakdown on how we furnished and decorated our deck.
One good thing about building a deck at the end of the summer is all the summer stuff is on major clearance! We got the whole set of furniture for about 70% off – it is Better Homes and Gardens brand from Wal-mart.
![DSC_1079[4]](https://thefrugalhomemaker.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/05/DSC_10794.jpg "DSC_1079[4]")
- The large brown and red flower pots were all clearance from Kmart and Dollar General. I paid $1.00-2.50 for each one. And I didn’t even have to spray paint them!
- The bird feeders, hooks and tiki torches were all things we already had. (The tiki torches even date back to my hubby’s time as a bachelor in college.)
- I just got the deck box a few weeks ago at Aldi for an awesome deal. It stores the chair covers and grill cover while we aren’t using them, along with a container of extra bird food and more fuel for the torches
- And I borrowed the front porch pillows for these shots and to see if I liked pillows there. Guess some more pillow covers are on my list to do cause I like them! 😉
Now let’s talk about the yard sale finds in this space:
- The large star on the window was a $5 yard sale find.
- The wicker plant stand that the fern is on was a recent $3 yard sale find.
- The white pot on the table was a $1.00 yard sale find.
- The red wall hanging was a 50¢ yard sale find (and did get a coat of spay paint)
- The new outdoor light was a $5 Goodwill find last year on “I love thrifting day” (more on this later but I plan on hosting an “I <3 thrifting day” in my area – can’t wait to have some of you join me and find some great deals!)
And there is a story behind my deck post lights too. We really wanted to add these but had no idea how expensive they were! At $12-15 EACH (and we needed 12) the lights were going to end up costing more than our furniture!
I had about given up on finding lights and bought and taken back a few options when I came across a bin at Home Depot. $3.98 each – black solar post lights and they were perfect!! (Hmmm… why does frugal decorating always seem to teach me lesson in waiting?)
I love our new deck! This is the view I have each day as I sit on the couch to blog. I love watching the birds come and go and seeing the trees blowing in the breeze.
So real quick let’s see the before and after once more!
Before…
After!
Before…
After!
Hope you have enjoyed seeing our deck and this “Sprucing up the outdoors for Spring” series. We will wrap up the series next week with one last post and then I have got to start working on some indoor projects!
Do you have an outdoor space that you really enjoy? Have you done any major remodeling or building projects outside recently?
{cj}
(By the way, I am guest posting over at It’s Just Laine today. Sharing a simple frozen treat perfect for any party you have planned for this summer or just a treat for your family. Check it out here. And while you are there, check out some of Laine’s awesome projects and her mad photography skills!)
Sometimes I link up to these wonderful parties:
Sarahndipities, Skip to my Lou, Today’s Creative Blog, How to Nest for Less, Home Stories A to Z, Apron Thrift Girl, Tools are for women too, Not just a Housewife, A bowl full of lemons, Uncommon Designs Online, Someday Crafts, No Minimalist Here,Somewhat Simple, 36th Avenue, Sew Much Ado, The Style Sisters, The Thrifty Home, Domestically Speaking, House of Hepworths, The Shabby Creek Cottage, Weekend Blogging party at Serenity Now, Home Happy Home, Tatertots and Jello, Funky Junk Interiors, The Girl Creative, Miss Mustard Seed, Chic on a Shoestring Decorating, Remodelaholic, The Lettered Cottage, Before and after party at Thrifty Decor Chick, Pinterest Challenge at Young House Love
I love it! It looks fantastic!!!
Thanks, Sarah!
It looks beautiful! My husband and I just found those same type of solar posts lights on our last Home Depot trip and I think we will be adding them to our back yard fence someday soon 🙂
Yay, Kathy! They work really well. I don’t remember when exactly we bought them but I know it has been at least a year maybe a year and half. And every single one still works perfectly! If it has been a cloudy day they might not turn on that great cause they don’t get enough charge during the day but otherwise they work perfect!
Looks terrific ! Christina, when are you going to “give in” and just put all this stuff into a book?! I’d say it’s about time…I haven’t been looking at your blog for very long, but you have talent 🙂
a book? well, I will leave that for Young House Love for now! 🙂 Do you follow their blog? AmAzInG DIYers! 🙂 But I will keep chronicling my journey and projects right here! 🙂 Thanks for reading, Kathy!
I LOVE this!!! We have an ugly unfinished deck and now I BELIEVE there is hope for it!!!! Thanks for showing!
Thanks, Denise! And yes, there is always hope! 🙂 If the boards are in bad condition check out a product called “Restore”. We couldn’t use it cause ours was sagging and not anchored properly but if the boards are just overly weathered and ugly – that product might help! 🙂
Looks amazing! What a difference, much nicer/safer and a great addition in value and enjoyment to your home. I just had a concrete patio poured – I can’t wait to get it all decorated! But, I’ll do it as I can save the money.
You know, after having to re-build this deck (our house was only 4 years old when we bought it and the deck was already in bad condition. The before pictures were taken at about 10 years old.) and seeing how much upkeep a wood deck can be, we really would like to have a patio on our next house instead of a deck! 😉 So yay for you – hardly any upkeep. While I will be restaining, reparing, doing upkeep every few years 😉
Check craigslist, yard sales for furniture and then hit up clearance sales at the end of summer. You can do and on a budget! 🙂
What a beautiful deck! makes me wanna pull up a chair and rest a bit:) LOVE it!
Thanks! We enjoy it – especially in the mornings and evening when it is cooler and when we are entertaining 🙂
How do attach decor to vinyl siding?
I meant to share about that in that post. Good question! I will blog about it later – hopefully next week.
WOW!! what a transformation! Looks warm and inviting–wish we lived closer to come and hang out! ; )
that would be fun, Rachel! 😉
thanks!
Love it so much! I can’t wait to rip our deck out and replace it. Unfortunately it will be awhile longer before we can afford to tackle that project! I love your deck. It’s so huge and awesome!!!
Thanks for visiting, Allison! This is a project I can see you doing 😉 Just grabbing some spray paint and going for it – my hubby thought I was crazy.
We love our deck too – we lived with the ugly one for almost 6 years before it finally made top of the “save and do” list so I understand. Now we enjoy it! 🙂
Your new deck is beautiful, and I bet you get years and years of joy from it. I love the solar lights (on sale-score!) I bet they look so pretty at night.
Hi Christina,
Greetings from Bethlehem Township, Pa! I came accross you site accidently and I really like your ideas. I am interested in how you hung the window/planter on your exterior vinyl wall on your deck? Thank you for your inspiration!
Oh that took some question asking at Home Depot 🙂 Our fireplace is right there behind the siding so I got some anchors that were specifically designed for concrete/bricks. And we had to use a drill bit designed for concrete too. Just hung some heavy duty screws anchored into the wall/fireplace/siding and then put some hooks on the back of the window to hang over the screws. Hope that helps!
Thank you so much for all your ideas!! We just bought are first home, and I am so excited to be able to finally implement some of your great ideas. You helped me keep dreaming
!