Sharing our modern deck makeover! From modern outdoor furniture sources to before and after photos of this renovation.
So I shared that we were making over our exterior, and our decks and then I posted nothing for 10 days while we hustled and you guys… I couldn’t wait to share! Shane and I took every minute we could to finish up the siding, doors, and eeeeverything to go along with it and I’m so darn excited to put this space to work when we move back there! We’d planned to have our backyard patios all ready to go when it got warm enough to sit out there.
We worked most of last summer on building the decks and getting our house ready for siding. But this spring threw some curveballs with everything going on in the world and then our flood and the restoration involved in that. So even though it’s not 1000% done (I have some paint touchups to do and we’re waiting on a rug that’s taking longer to ship than expected)- I couldn’t wait to share!
Should we throw it back to the before? Oh, I think we should ;)
Okay, so somehow this is the only ‘before photo’ I have of the upper deck. Probably because it was small so we didn’t spend much time up there. You can see two chairs up there and that’s about all that fit because of the angle it was built on (to mimic the bay windows). By the time you allowed room for the patio doors and for the stairs, there wasn’t much room left for furniture.
We tore it down last summer, finding the support posts were rotting, we started from the ground up. We decided to build a water tight deck so that we could eventually put electrical under the deck for a fan or light. We’ve never worked with patio vinyl so we hired that out- we had a few quotes and the one we went with was really affordable for installation, it didn’t make sense to do it ourselves. We built the deck to be ready for the vinyl install and then also hired out the glass railing installation.
I’m not going to lie- seeing this come together after a year of working on it in evenings and weekends (when we weren’t working on the inside!) made this reveal feel so freaking good.
You can tour both this lounge space and our dining space in this video as well!
If you spotted my last post- I chatted about some furniture options we were looking at for this space. I’m so excited to partner with Article on this part. We totally love their furniture and have an outdoor sectional on our lower deck we adore too. They hold up so well in our harsh weather and feel totally luxurious- like an indoor sofa.
We decided we’d love a lounge space up here so we could sit in the mornings and sip coffee and then in the evenings and sip wine and chat and enjoy the sunsets. We’ve put a dining table on the lower wood patio and I can’t wait to share that with you later this week too!
We chose the Sora Beach Sand Sectional as the big piece for this space. We’ve added wood elements throughout the exterior but this upper deck really had none. I love how the warm wood tones balance the black and white of the house. Between the pretty wood tones and the beautiful spindles- this sectional is a total dream, you guys. It’s also nice and low which I’m so happy about because we didn’t want to obstruct our view as much as possible.
The nesting table set is such a cool combination of metal and granite (Gera Granite Site Table Set). These tables are SOLID, you guys! I love them! We get some crazy wind and the little table we’d between the two chairs up here got blown over all the time. These definitely won’t be blowing around.
Other than that? I’m such a plants person and am loving having these big planters right here- the lavender keeps bugs away… I might need some more of them, ha! The planters are the Silenn Gray Terrazzo Large Planter and the Tuva White Terrazzo Small Planter, but don’t let ‘small’ fool you, this is solid and substantial! I had planned to put it on our lower patio table when I ordered it but it filled this space so perfectly, I didn’t need to make it tabletop! I also love the play in the shapes on this smaller one against the larger straight lined planter.
The Solina Gray Terrazzo Stool to the right of the sectional acts as a side table most of the time but also extra seating. I love having as much seating as possible because this current season excluded, we always seem to end up with a crowd here. We have a big family- if just Shane’s family (his brothers and their kids, his parents and in town aunts etc) show up… we have 30. My girlfriends also know how to fill a patio pretty good ;P But when it’s just our family, we don’t want to be tripping over extra chairs so stools that double as side tables? Amazing.
I’m so happy with this half of the deck. For now I’ve put our Article Medan Graphite Lounge Chairs up there. We had them on our lower patio last year and I think I might move them back down there, but felt like I should fill the space up here – ha! I’m planning to build a bench for under that window. Maybe put a couple plants on it and a basket for sunscreen and such under it. Then I might move a wicker chair I have up here for the other corner so I can have the matching black chairs down low. I’ve got plans, guys!
Other things we’re planning on doing? Other than laying down the rug I’m waiting not-so-patiently for and building a bench… I do need to touch up paint on the doors (I hit it with white paint while painting the trim!) and we are planning to replace the light. The one we had bought for back here didn’t fit below the trim so we used this one I had in storage for our laundry room, but it’s not meant for exteriors so we don’t want to leave it here long term.
Phew! Alright I’m so excited to get our butts home so we can sit here and enjoy the new set up. It’s going to be so lovely to come back to this being complete and ready to relax. Goodness knows after this month, we’ll need it ;) I’ve already called my spot. You’ll find me with my back facing the doors and my feet up, watching the sunset.
If you have any questions at all about the space- let me know! I will put all the sources below to make it easy for ya.
Picking Modern Outdoor Patio Furniture
It looks great! I love Article and I love your view. My only comment is I wonder why you don’t rotate the sectional 90 degrees so that when you sit in it you face out enjoying your view instead of staring at the house?
Hi! Colleen tried that too but it’s too wide and blocked the stairs!