Previously, on The World's Slowest Deck Makeover: I explained how we took probably 3-4 weekends to complete the simple task of cleaning, stripping and staining our deck. Next up: Dressing it up!
Last year, I searched far and wide for patio chairs I really liked. None of the sets I saw really appealed to me, and many were well out of my price range. So when I saw the Poinciana metal chairs from World Market, I was so excited! Alas, I shouldn't have been too excited, because those beautiful coral-red chairs faded to the color of Creamsicles within just 2 months of summer sun exposure.
First I tried cleaning them, which helped...a bit. But the damage was done. These chairs were never going to be fiery tomato again. In addition, since we ended up using a red-toned stain for the deck, I wanted to go brighter and cooler with the chair colors and have more contrast.
So it was settled! Time to spray paint. Hot tip: Spray painting takes longer than you ever think it will. It will take more cans that you ever imagined (it took me a can per chair)! Also, you will, despite all efforts to the contrary, end up spray painting your plants. Trust me!
I decided to go with beachy colors: mint, royal blue and lavender. This is a between shot, before I started the last royal blue pair of chairs. All in all, this was probably about 8-9 hours of cleaning, sanding and spraying, because you have to allow the paint to dry between coats. I also had a Classic Amber problem where, possibly due to humidity, the final clear coat caused the mint paint to bubble and I ended up sanding and painting those chairs again. Womp womp.
Once the chairs were complete, I shifted focus to my biggest dream — rigging up romantic patio lights. I read many, many Pinterest tutorials and landed on the idea to place 8-foot poles in planters filled with Quickrete (a fast-drying cement). First, we had to drill holes for eyehooks. Then we mixed the Quickrete while one of us held the poles in place.
I had a grand idea that I would put smaller planters inside bigger planters and top them with annuals. But when we put the smaller planters inside the bigger ones, they of course leaned dangerously and it was clear we'd need something with heft to keep them upright and the answer came to me: play sand! I bought four bags of play sand, filled those bad boys up and they stayed put during a gnarly wind storm. The only problem will be figuring out how to store all this stuff during the winter. Eep.
And, the finished product: our multi-colored chairs are very beachy, which is appropriate when you live this close to the beach.
Our lights are lovely, and we even picked up matching uber-cheap plastic Adirondack chairs from Harris Teeter on super clearance!
At long last, we have a functioning party-ready deck, just in time for crippling and oppressive heat. Can't wait to actually have a party out here!
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