A few weeks ago, Chris Loves Julia encouraged people to step out of their comfort zones when it came to their homes, and making spaces better. I thought long and hard about what I could do that I had not ventured into during the past year, and the answer was staring back at me every time I did dishes.
I have a two level deck on the back of my house, and it’s honestly one of the most ignored spaces of my home. By nature (pun intended) I’m not an “outdoorsy” type of person. In fact, I like to call myself indoorsy. The main reason for this: mosquitos. They eat me alive. Plus I just hate bugs in general. I know they serve some sort of purpose, but they still gross and freak me out. So I tend to stay inside where the bugs can’t be found.
The deck itself is a decent size, and there are plenty of trees and it’s actually kind of pretty if you’re into that kind of thing. It’s biggest flaw is fix-able thank goodness, and that the horrendous stain color that’s kind of a red/brown color. I plan on re-staining in the fall and it will most likely be gray (pending HOA approval of course).
Anyway, I knew that this space would pose a challenge, because I never even look at outdoor spaces when I’m browsing design photos online. I know nothing about decorating an outdoor space. So I rolled up my sleeves and started researching what kind of vibe I wanted.
I took this as another opportunity to perhaps step even MORE out of my comfort zone and go for a kind of boho chic kind of look on the deck. My normal style is very much modern with traditional and vintage/antique mixed in. I’ve never done boho. My freshman college room roommate was a complete hippy and I think that scarred me for life against tapestries, incense, and macramé. However, I figured I could give the space a boho vibe while still leaning towards my style.
The first thing I needed to pick out was the furniture. I wanted to go neutral because I like to accentuate with my accessories, and also that horrible stain color. I also knew I wasn’t willing to spend thousands on deck furniture because everything is going to be 100% exposed to the elements. My deck is not screened or covered whatsoever and I have a feeling no matter what, outdoor furniture won’t last longer than a few years.
I ended up finding some really cute furniture at Lowe’s, including this FABULOUS egg chair. It was a bit more than I wanted to spend, so I found some alternatives. I ended up purchasing two loveseats, and they came with a coffee table.
I really wanted a rug for the space, but I was worried about water damage to the wood. Would it create rot? Mold? Just get disgusting underneath? So I did some research, and the best rugs for outdoors are made from polypropylene. I found this gorgeous one from Home Depot and figured it was inexpensive enough that I wouldn’t cry if it got ruined in a year.
I had most of the furniture, but now I needed some accessories. I went back to Home Depot to look and see if they had any egg chairs in store (they didn’t) but they did have garden stools on sale! They were $35 each, and after a quick google search, I found that’s actually a pretty good price. Can anyone explain to me why garden stools cost anywhere from $80-$300??? What am I missing here? And what purpose do they actually serve besides looking pretty?
Pottery Barn had some beautiful outdoor pillows on sale, so I grabbed a few.
After checking out more inspiration pics, I decided I would love to bring in some metallic elements to the space, so I thought the perfect way to do that was by spray painting the garden stools a golden color. I ended up using Rust-oleum Satin Bronze. It came out fabulously.
I was nearly done, but in my heart of hearts, I still wanted that Lowe’s egg chair. I went back to Lowe’s to see if I could find more accessories, and low and behold… it had been marked down in store! Now costing about 25% off of the original price. I mean, not a huge discount, but still pretty good. And there were only two left. I grabbed one, and in order to get it into my card, I actually had to take it out of the box, and uninstall the car seat. But I got it home!
I will say, assembling deck furniture is really a breeze. Usually there’s less than 10 screws, and it takes no longer than 10 minutes.
I also picked up a deck box from Sam’s club for storing all of the cushions and pillows. And of course, covers for each piece of furniture so they stay dirt free when we aren’t using, and during the colder months.
Finally, I knew I still wouldn’t use the space because I didn’t want to get bitten by mosquitoes. But I found this handy dandy outdoor mosquito repellant that gives off a 15 foot barrier against mosquitoes. It’s fragrance free and last for up to 4 hours per cartridge. I tried it out on Saturday night when we had out neighbors over, and I didn’t get a single bite! Hooray!
I love this space now and although I’m not out there everyday, I’m certainly using it more than I did previously. Proof that it pays to step out of your comfort zone!
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