Deck Plans + Outdoor Rugs

We just had a busy birthday weekend and I was trying so hard to get the deck ready for guests!  Unfortunately it started raining just minutes before people were due to arrive, so we had to keep the celebration indoors.  Guess that means I have a bit more time to think about my deck plans and outdoor rugs (and spoiler: actually finish staining the deck too!).

The last time I shared a picture of our deck, it was looking a little sad:

A couple weeks ago we bought some plants for the front walkway, and I also picked up a citronella type plant to keep the mosquitos away.

Not sure if it actually works, but I snapped this picture right after planting it (and you can better see the state of the deck).

Previous Deck Plans + Work

Two years ago I shared our original plans for the deck, which included building this bench and this corner bench too. We stained the benches and deck that year and hadn’t really changed much since (well I did build a table) and you can see the layout we went with for the backyard here.

Last year the deck looked okay (until about September) so I skipped the whole sanding and staining thing.  Well, mostly it’s because I had a baby and I didn’t really do too much work outside!

From the time the snow started melting, I was itching to get this deck stained again.  I was able to get by with just giving the benches a quick coat, but I did have to sand a LOT of peeling stain from the main deck.  The only part that wasn’t peeling was the section that was covered with the table.

I was working on a time crunch this year, so I skipped the first power washing stage. It took me an hour or so to power sand it and vacuum everything; and I got that portion completed during the Mister’s morning nap.

I was able to get a full coat of stain (leftover from last time) during his afternoon nap, and I made sure to avoid everything for a while.

The Husband started working on the second coat that evening, but quit after the mosquitos started biting too much (maybe the plant wasn’t close enough ha!). The next day I finished the rest of the gallon but was just shy of the last 1/4 of our deck.

I was hoping that one coat was enough (like on the benches) but you can really tell the difference between one and two coats. I also noticed that we have a lot of splitting boards this year, so we may have to replace a few next summer…

In other news, I bought a rug off Kijiji and used the warm weather opportunity to clean it out.  It’s definitely not an outdoor rug (we put it in the pink room), but storing it on the deck convinced me that having a rug out here is the way to go.

Actually, I envision a super cozy lounge area around the corner benches.  Think lots of pillows and the mister crawling around while I relax and tan.  (Ha, that last part was a joke – I only burn!).

At first I thought it would be fun to do a round rug, but the Husband quickly vetoed that idea because he doesn’t like circles.  (I actually prefer squares too, but I thought I could be wild once at least.)

The benches are 7′ x 7′ and I’ve been eyeing some rugs that would definitely work for this area.  (I saved a bunch of neutral 7×7 outdoor rugs here).  At first I knew what one I was going to get, but then found a few more… can you figure out my favourite from that list?

Right now the dining set is in the corner, and unfortunately the custom patio table is no more.  The base broke over the winter and some of the tiles were starting to break.  I may build a different table, but we’ll see how my cool lounge idea works first :)

In the meantime, let me know what you think of the deck plans and outdoor rugs I chose! I haven’t ordered anything yet, and I guess I’m just a little bit concerned with leaving a rug out all the time (because you know I would never bring it in if it was raining). I would probably store it in the winter… but who knows around here haha!

(Oh and come back this Saturday to check out the current outdoor dining setup!).