Hold onto your hat while I show you the before and after of our deck!

The very first thing my husband wanted to do when we bought our house three years ago was tear down the existing deck and build a new one. It was in ROUGH shape! (The listing photos didn’t even show the deck up close… then we learned why.) Since it’s such a big and expensive project, Adam was able to straighten out the crooked staircase and stain the existing wood deck to buy us a few years. Fast-forward to this year and with the wood starting to rot and become more of a safety hazard, we knew it was time.

Keep reading to see our new deck & patio update. But first, check out the B&A! (Still to be done is staining/painting the existing wood slats + beams, and install outdoor fan):

*The ‘Before’ is from the summer after we bought the house in 2019. To see the updates we did to this space last summer, check out my patio post here.

Choosing Materials

With the cost of lumbar skyrocketing, we decided to save the ‘bones’ of the deck (which were still in good shape) and replace the rest with composite decking. The major plus of having composite versus wood decking is that it is virtually maintenance free. You don’t have to worry about treating or staining anything, and it is extremely durable. We went with Trex Saddle from Lowe’s. For the railing, we chose simple black round spindles for high contrast against the white.

Staircase

We actually came across a bit of a hiccup when it came to the stairs. Originally, we wanted the stairs to stay where they were but with a split landing at the bottom. Due to the rock from our patio retaining wall, they simply couldn’t drill where the posts were needed. So, we went with Plan b, which was having the stairs come down directly onto the patio. We did lose a little bit of patio space doing this, but in the end, we’re still happy with the result!

Time to Deck-orate!

Adam and I spent weeks looking at patio furniture sets! No joke. We were very particular about what we were looking for and our budget. We wanted something mid-level cost-wise with either chairs or loveseats we could set up across from each other to make it a conversational space. Adam finally came across this 5-piece patio set for just under $900! It’s so incredibly comfortable, and the metal is painted to look like wood, which I love! Paired with this indoor/outdoor rug I got for a steal (under $80), and some flowers, and boom! — A private oasis to watch the sunset with a couple glasses o’ vino.

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Patio Refresh

You may remember the new patio we had built last summer. (See that post here in case you missed it.) Well, now that we have the new deck we decided to switch up the layout a little. We basically flip-flopped the dining set with the patio set and added some more umbrellas for shade. We also moved the pool lounge chairs to the base of the stairs and are thinking of adding an outdoor bar and/or pergola to the other side (eventually). In the meantime, catch me in this canopy chair (or as my four-year-old calls it: the snuggle chair) all summer!

*For a DIY of my patio sign pictured below, click here.

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All in all this entire patio space has changed so much since we bought our house three years ago! We have spent so much time, energy, and $$ turning our backyard into a relaxing space for our family. Now to enjoy it 😎

FOLLOW ON THE GRAM

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