Power-Washin'...Deck Stainin'.... Kinda Weekend

Hey Everyone!!

Hope you all have had a great Monday!

I wanted to drop in & just share a little bit of what we worked on this past weekend!

The weather was beautiful here & we spent all day Saturday & Sunday working in our backyard!! Just like last year, the back flowerbed needed some work! I spent a lot of my time raking out all the dead leaves & pulling lots & lots of WEEDS!! 

When I was finished it looked a little something like this....

Ahhh!  A blank slate!!

All of the new bushes we planted last year are still alive & I'm loving all the color they add to the landscaping!! My knock-out rose bushes are getting ginormous & are also in full bloom!! Can't wait to get some flowers planted in the ground, some beautiful hanging baskets to hang on the fence, & to lay some fresh mulch!!

p.s. pay no attention to the plastic pool....it was hot here this weekend & it served its purpose in keeping the kids cool & entertained while the hubs & I worked our butts off!! I know it ain't pretty, but its real life people!! 


In addition to the flower beds, the deck also needed some major attention this year! I had stained it a couple years back with a solid deck stain & the stain was starting come off!

It was also FILTHY....

So, I had my hubby take the power washer to it to clean it & prep it for staining!

You can see where the stain was coming off the deck much better in this pic, but this is what it looked like after being power washed & before the new stain went down.

We wanted to go with a different color stain this year & something a bit darker to hide the dirt a little better, so off to Lowes we went! After looking thru the gazillion color options that they had available, we finally decided to go with the color "pewter" and used the Olympic Maximum brand stain. It is a stain & sealant in one.

We wanted a painted look, so again, we went with a solid stain, but they also have semi-transparent stain as well if you are wanting more of a traditional stained look with some of the wood grain showing through. The stain went down really easy with roller & then I used a brush to paint around the outside edge of the deck.

I'm pretty much LOVING this color & can't wait to get all my patio furniture out & start prettying up this space! Here is a peek at the back of our home and what the deck looks like right now...

 I am really wanting to add shutters to the those back two windows & also dress them up a bit more by adding some inexpensive window boxes & of course some beautiful flowers! I would love to do the same with that small window above the air conditioning unit, but given the placement of our electric box, that isn't going to happen!

We also have plans to add a pergola to the deck this year & I seriously CAN.NOT.WAIT!!!

My brain is picturing something like this......

(via)

GAH!!! 
I LOVE IT!!!

Are you picturing it too?!

I'm looking forward to hanging out on the deck a lot this summer & hopefully doing some entertaining!! We are hoping to get started on the pergola real soon!!!
I will keep you posted!!

Did you all have beautiful weather this weekend? 


Get any outdoor projects started or completed?!

I would LOVE to hear what you've been working on!!

p.s. we are going to be taking a little trip this next week & I would like to get a few guest bloggers lined up so that I can enjoy the trip rather than worry about the blog!! If you would be interested in guest posting, please email me: tdiehl2005 (at) yahoo (dot) com.


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