OUR DECK EXPANSION

How much space did we gain? What materials did we use? What plantings did we choose? What was the cost of this DIY? All your questions will be answered here in this blog post! As many of you know, we decided to tackle expanding our deck this summer! It was a labor of love, for sure, but one that, in the end, we knew would be worth it!

Our first, and really only, obstacle was the large well that was original to the house. Though it was neat looking, after 16 years here, we decided that was not enough to keep us from moving it any longer! It caused our deck to make a sharp angle and cut into a lot of usable space. For a long time I fought taking it down because of its history to our house, but in the end, function won! We added about 80 sq ft of deck space.

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 Landscaping before

What was the cost…We spent about $150 on cement footings and the cement, cement mixer and concrete forming tubes. The frame lumbar was pressure treated from Home Depot and cost about $300. The decking boards were pressure treated 5/4′ premium decking boards from a local lumbar yard and we spent $250 on those. The Railing were Home Depot pre-built railings, hand rail, and square cap. We needed three and each was $60 so $180 on that. The skirting was 1x6x12 boards and cost about $100. We paid to have the entire floor and the NEW railings and skirting painted for $350. To landscape the entire side of the house and porch/deck was $375 for 5 hydrangeas, 6 boxwood plants and 2 sedum plants as well as mulch from home depot.

DIY WINDOW BOXES

You guys, YOU GUYS!!!!!! Do I have your attention now? We MUST talk about our latest diy! In the 16 years we have lived in our home, I have always wanted window boxes on our cape. I feel like it is the type of house that looks adorable with them! A few things stopped us along the 16 years: 1. They are expensive, 2. We had babies, which derailed all diys for a while, 3. Our windows are fairly wide and we have bay windows, 4. The good, vinyl, nice looking ones I wanted were expensive – have I mentioned that already?! Last year I finally bit the bullet and ordered two – one for each window in the front of the house. I decided to just do the middle window of the bay windows. BAD idea! First, they weren’t wide enough, second, they looked funny not encompassing the whole window. So, I returned them and moved on, BUT the itch for wanting them was still very much there! SO, this year, I finally decided that if Mr. Seasoned Home could build us a screened porch, shiplap a vaulted ceiling, tile various rooms, and do all the woodworking around our house, then I bet he could figure out how to make us some window boxes! Boy was I right! Then I figured if they gave me this much joy, then I must share them with all of you, because more than likely they would give you joy too! So the following is all materials needed, how we hung them and finally what we filled them with!

The following are the materials needed to make one window box of any width. For reference, ours range in width from 3-5 feet and are all 8 inches tall and 7.25 inches deep. You will notice that the materials are not inexpensive, but we went for what was most durable and long lasting. We wanted to do this once and only once! This material is made of PVC and meant for the outdoors and the elements. You will need 3 (1×8) boards for the bottom, front and back of the boxes. They come in lengths of either 8 or 16 feet. You will need 2 (1x8x8) for each end cap. Then for the decorative trim, which we used to add interest, you will need 2 (1×2) of whatever width and for the vertical detail pieces, you will need to cut all vertical trim pieces to 5.25″ each and 1 (8×8″) L Bracket for about every 2 feet of your window box. We also used brad nails and a nail gun. The cost of one 5 foot window box was approximately $70 to make.

DIY CHALK PAINT PROJECTS AND WHERE TO FIND THEM

I must start this post by explaining that I am by no means an expert on anything I speak of below. I’m just sharing what has worked for me, a novice, at painting and rehabbing furniture.

Lately, I have been obsessed with finding vintage furniture pieces and rehabbing them. I have a newfound love for this process and I have to say it is so much easier than I perceived it to be. You do NOT have to be any type of expert at this. If I can do it, I promise you can do it and I have to admit, I’m hooked. I find it an inexpensive way to be super creative and when I am done I feel so proud and such a sense of accomplishment!

For all of my projects, I began by scouring Facebook Marketplace! You would be amazed at the vintage pieces you can find for such incredible prices on here. One tip – don’t be afraid to negotiate. Offer what you consider a fair price and a bonus is offering to pick it up that day. Most of the time, people want these pieces out of their homes to make way for new items or because they are moving, etc…Another tip, be consistent. If you have a piece in mind that you are searching for, continuously search for that piece daily. I did that with these items, everyday for a couple weeks and was able to find everything I was looking for.

The beauty of chalk paint is that prep work is non existent! All you have to do is start to paint! Get a drop cloth, take any drawers/hardware out and off and get started. I have used Rust-O-Leum ultra matte chalk paint in both Linen White and Aged Grey.  This paint goes on smooth and is amazing. In all cases, I have used two coats to get the complete coverage needed. This is a great painting set to get you started, because it has the tray, brush and roller. We were able to use a roller on a lot of areas on each of the pieces we painted. This saved time and provided great coverage! To add interest on one piece – a secretary desk that was rather plain, I added these these and this this before painting.

Now for distressing…the very word scared me so much…until I just dove in. Then it became a fun challenge! Again, a novice at this too, I had no idea what I was doing! I studied some pieces that had been distressed on Instagram and realized that it’s best to distress areas that would get traffic, corners, edges and any detailed trim work you want highlighted. Paint can tend to cover up the details of trim work, so in order to make it “pop”, you can simply distress it! I started out on a learning curve! I got these gloves to keep my hands from falling off! I began with sandpaper and quickly realized that if it was a large piece, that was not going to cut it! I ended up using and really liking these sandpaper blocks.  I try to wait a day before distressing, though sometimes my excitement, coupled with my impulsivity, do not allow me! These may not be the most cost effective way, but to me, they are the easiest and most comfortable. Make sure you are sanding on a drop cloth, because the dust goes EVERYWHERE!!! My husband has a mini shop vac like this one which is AMAZING for cleaning up in the wake of distressing! Not all pieces need to be distressed, it’s really a personal preference. The most recent piece I did, I ended up not distressing for a more polished look.

Once your project is painted and distressed, many people encourage sealing the final product with wax. It can be a clear wax, keeping the original paint color, or one with a stain color to darken the piece. I have not actually waxed any of my pieces, because they are not high traffic pieces that will be used a lot! If you are painting anything that will be getting a lot of use, I would highly recommend this. Since I have yet to use it, I don’t feel right recommending one to you, as I like to only recommend products I have tried and liked. I am sure the paint department at Home Depot can help though! I’ve included pictures of all the pieces I have painted and distressed.

My final piece of advice…take the chance, believe in yourself and your capabilities, have fun, and remember it’s just paint! If you don’t like it, you can always paint it again! Good luck, YOU CAN DO THIS!!!!