Last fall, I posted a plea for help with redecorating my deck, Let’s All Help Robin Get Her Deck Together Day. Many of you offered great ideas, and though it has taken me a few months to pull it together, I think I”m done for now.
Here’s what it looked like when I first asked for your help:
I needed the gazebo to feel more incorporated into the space, and I needed it to be more cozy.
First, I added curtains, which helped a lot. I painted a small table white, added white impatiens in a container that was my color inspiration, and found a rattan covered chair at the goodwill that I turned into a white footstool. I stuck with those changes for a while, sitting in it mornings and evenings to feel what else it needed. I soon realized it needed a space-defining rug to help connect all the different legs from gazebo, chairs, table and footstool.
I priced outdoor rugs in the size I needed, and determined that wasn’t in my budget right now. With the unexpected surprise of Colorado Summertime weather this past week, I took advantage of the cool air to paint a faux rug onto the deck.
First, I removed everything and taped off the area.
In keeping with my beach theme, I decided to paint beachy-stripes. That was also the easiest design – to just follow the deck strips. I had outdoor paint colors in my storage closet already, from past projects. (I’m a project queen; I always have to have a project going on or I’m bored out of my head). Here’s where I started:
Okay, I liked it so far. When I removed the tape, though, I realized it needed an edge to define it. I opted for “faux fringe”. It’s my first attempt and it looks okay. Not great, but I can live with it. If I had had some stencils on hand, I think a stencil-patterned edge would look better. Here’s what I had done after about three hours:
A closer look at the fringe:
I decided, as long as I had the paint out and I was covered in it, to paint a few pots to tie in throughout the yard with my color scheme:
So here’s the final product. Since the chairs are a bit too big for the space, I either need new chairs or I need to use a stencil to extend a pattern beyond the stripes so that the chairs’ back legs will all fit onto the “rug”.
And from the other side:
This entire gazebo project was very low budget, and I’m quite happy with it right now. I used regular indoor polyester curtains from KMart that were $5 each. We’ll see how they stand up to the summer heat and sun. If they last a year, then I’ve gotten my money’s worth.
It’s calm, serene and I love sitting out there with my morning coffee and watching the sunset. Flash the Wonder Cat approves, since he considers it to be his anyway.
Thanks, everyone, for your ideas.
Getting Grounded 