Happy Thanksgiving!

“Be present in all things and grateful for all things.” Maya Angelou

Somehow we blinked, and it’s Thanksgiving! How did this happen? With the holiday season upon us, I wanted to stop by and wish you all a peaceful Thanksgiving celebration. May you spend these days surrounded by people you love, in gratitude and joy, with open hearts, and plenty of room for pie. And because this is a design blog, I thought I’d share with you a project that I am thankful to have finished this year, and that I never got around to show you – a new deck, right off of our family room.

I’m not sure if you remember this, but last November (right before a winter weather advisory was issued for our county) our house was missing an exterior wall. We’d removed an off-center window in the family room, to make room for a pair of centered French doors, but the doors were late and work had started, and it was a close call. It all worked out in the end, and the doors were installed just in time for the first snowfall. A set of temporary stairs allowed access to the backyard, while we were finalizing plans for a deck to be built right outside the glass doors.

If you’re interested, you can read more about the family room makeover HERE. 

We tried to salvage as much of our old deck as possible, and in the process keep the costs low, so we reused every bit of framing material we could save, along with most of the vinyl railings.

The actual building process took about six months, from the early planning stages (started last December) to the actual construction (May of this year). We minimized costs by reusing much of the framing boards from the old deck, but we sadly had to replace the old composite flooring, which was the bulk expense. We went with pressure treated boards (which we have yet to seal) instead of composite (a debatable choice, I know),but I fell in love with the look of natural wood floors. The wood matches the color of our interior seagrass rugs, which helps make the transition between the indoor and outdoor spaces, visually seamless.

Six months in and the deck has been a wonderful extension of our living space. It’s allowed us to enjoy more time outdoors and have countless meals al fresco. We’ve entertained here, we’ve watched the sunset during the warmer months, and enjoyed the birdsong and the wildlife we’re so blessed to have right here, in our backyard. It still needs tweaks here and there, but it’s all cosmetic (sealing and a coat of paint), and for now I am happy and grateful that one of the biggest projects on my vision board for this house is done!

Thank you for stopping by!

Happy Thanksgiving!