Outdoor Living: some deck spruce-ups

Well, look at this -- pull your jaw off the floor and clean up that coffee you just spilled all over.  A home post!  Now that Ironman training is behind me, I have a lot more time and energy to work on my home.  Picking up where we left off ...

A few months ago, I shared some tweaks I made to my downstairs patio.  Up today: some work I did on my upstairs deck.  The upstairs deck was in good shape.  Last year I made a big push up there and really cleaned the boards.  They still look really good from that deep cleaning.  All I had to do this year was move my furniture back in place, add a few accessories and plants and clean it up.

I use this deck all of the time in the warmer months.  I really lucked out: it is a totally private, totally green space right off of my living room.  I cannot tell you how wonderful it is to look out the window and just see grass and trees.

Here are the updates I made to this space.

First, I moved my furniture back into place and bought a few plants.  I already had the table and chairs (from Target a couple of years ago), rug (from Target a few years ago) and pillows (from Pier 1).  This year, I bought some cushions for the chairs, since they can get a little uncomfortable if you're out there for awhile.  I found these at Target online - I think they were about $15 each.  

The rug has seen better days.  I will try to clean it and get one more season out of it.  But I don't know.  Also: my neighbor had her deck repainted.  It looks so shiny and nice.  #deckenvy.

I also bought a new console-type table.  I always need a place for plates, candles, food/drinks and accessories, and the little table I had out here wasn't cutting it. I'll be honest: I found the old table on the curb a few years ago.   I needed *something* for my deck and since I rescued it from the landfill I've always had plans to redo it.  I never got around to it.  It's served me well and I am going to use it to store garden tools.  Free = awesome. 

But as you can see, it is a little small and a little sad.  Also: I need to do something to the light out here.  It needs some help.  Anyway, back to the table.  To replace it, I bought the Vittsjo laptop desk from Ikea. It was only $40 and I liked that the metal and glass were perfectly suited for outside use.  I didn't like the finish on the legs.

photo via

So, before I assembled it, I coated the metal parts with Valspar's outdoor spray paint in Koi Pond.  It took exactly one can of spray paint, which was good because that was all I had.  Now that's more like it.

For the top, I already had the turquoise lanterns, which I got at Target a few years ago.  I found the turquoise tray at Target a few weeks ago.  It was on sale for $15 and I loved it.  It's a little big for the table, but for now it works.

That's it!  This space makes me so happy! Nothing better than chilling out there with a burger and hot dog and ice cold beer.

Coming up in future posts are some What I Wore (hint: it's no longer sneakers to work), more home projects (I've been like an unstoppable rebel force around my house lately), the next round of training recaps, and one final post on Ironman Lake Placid.  Ok, maybe not the final post.  I'm not sure I can promise to never post about IMLP again.  I'll never let you go ...

Have a great weekend! See you back here on Monday!  One more sentence ending in an exclamation point for the road!

See you swoon,