How to Start Decorating a New Deck

It’s finished! Our new deck is complete!

The Blue Building Antiques Shopatblu New deck area — Don’t worry! I grabbed my Ryobi pressure washer and cleaned that siding. You will see the updates below.

The contractors left and my mind exploded with possibilities! All I wanted to do was to start decorating my new deck. If only it were so easy. With every action item, I had to pause, think, and realize “I can’t do that yet!” Here are some of the things to consider BEFORE you start decorating a new deck!

You Cannot Stain the Wood Immediately.

I KNOW!!! RIGHT??!!! I just want my deck to be gorgeous and magazine worthy right now! I’m ready to decorate! Did you realize that you should wait a period of time before staining or treating a newly installed deck? The wood needs to acclimate/dry a bit. Our deck is constructed of pressure treated lumber. New lumber is too wet to be immediately stained. I’ve seen recommendations to 3+ months to stain new wood surfaces to allow the wood to weather and create an ideal porous surface that will hold the stain better. The waiting period does vary based on the stain brand and type of wood. New smooth decking boards are not porous enough for most stains to be able to penetrate properly. This is mainly due to:

Mill glaze when cut
High moisture content
Chemicals in Pressure Treated Wood

Most wood stains, when applied to new wood will have a very difficult time of penetration into the wood cells. This will result in an uneven application and premature stain failure by quickly fading or peeling. Also, the deeper the stain soaks into the wood, the longer the life of the stain Another reason, at least for this DIY’er, is that the weather right now in Alabama is scorching hot! Waiting 30-90 days is ideal for me as the weather should then be below 90 degrees and the sunshine somewhat less intense. The wait time varies according to lumber type and brand/type of stain product you have selected. As this can be very confusing, you can do a water test to help determine if your wood is ready for the stain process. Place a few drops of water on the deck. If the water beads up, you’ll need to wait a few days and check it again. If it absorbs into the wood quickly, your deck is dry and ready to be sealed or stained.

New Deck Water Test

So, it looks like it will be at least 30 days before I can stain my deck and begin the new decorating process. I simply cannot wait that long. So, I will use what I have on hand for now and set up a temporary plan so that we can use the deck immediately. Here are some tips on how to immediately start decorating a new deck!

Designate Areas of Purpose

What is the purpose of your deck area? Will you be preparing food here? Dining? Lounging? Entertaining? Our new deck is quite large at 20 feet by 20 feet. We have a large family with five children who are all now adults with some starting families of their own. So our deck will be multi-functional with plenty of space for several activities going on at once. Determine what your main activity will be on your deck and design your areas around this plan.

Our long term plan will have the following areas:

Grilling

We do alot of grilling year round. We are fortunate to live in Alabama, known for super mild southern winters. In my native Pennsylvania we would call a true Alabama winter “mid October.” So we definitely need a grilling area. I prefer that this space be close to the kitchen door for easy access to pantry, supplies and other tools. Summers in Alabama often bring short but daily sun showers. So grabbing the goods off of the grill that is in close proximity to the kitchen door will prevent me and the food from being rain drenched should I be grilling during these short but potentially strong downpours. Upon inspection when removing the grill from the old deck, we found that our old grill was used far beyond our comfort level. There was quite a bit of rust and as we moved the grill, several pieces wiggled free indicating it’s longing for a new home…in the landfill. So, while we will have a grilling station eventually, for now that area will be marked by spare propane tanks. So fancy!

Lounging

We have a sweet little pool in our yard. Every pool needs a sunning area. Our sun area will consist of one adjustable lounge chair and one club-like chair with a footstool. I’m pretty sure both units are nap ready. They will both get a new coat of paint. When the sun is not so bright and the air is breezy, you will catch us lounging on this new deck and enjoying the sounds of the wild life on our property. We considered adding a shaded area but under this 20 x 20 deck is patio…instant shade! And ANOTHER area to decorate.

Dining

Off course a large deck should have an area designated for dining. We have a large rectangular patio table that we have used for dining in the past. We will be using this table and will just update it with paint. We have extra chairs scattered about to accommodate a larger dining party. It is always nice to have a space to share a snack or even prepare a salad should the weather and sun permit.

Activity Area

Our dining table is large enough to serve as a spacious craft or activity area as well. I’m looking forward to playing some games with Gbaby Blu who is already 4 and becoming quite the game board aficionado. He’s also about the age where crafts will be a must. We can start with something for fall or maybe even decorate a pumpkin.

Entertainment Area

One goal for me with this new deck, is to have a cozy area where we can sit to watch Saturday football or simply enjoy conversation with family or friends. A small seating area with a sofa or multiple chairs is a must for us. While we would love to purchase a gorgeous new outdoor sectional, we will be using our current vintage furniture until our budget allows an upgrade. With the actual deck construction being quite costly, we decided to simply refresh our current furniture. Keeping Alabama heat and the hot sun in mind, I simply loaded up on white rustoleum spray paint and gave the vintage black furniture a fresh new look.

Cool Evening Corner

Years ago I grabbed a chimenea at a yard sale. We’ve spent quite a few cool fall evening enjoying the small fire and conversation around this feature. I’m looking forward to this and the cooler weather, hopefully very soon. This year, with the larger deck area, I moved a small sofa from the driveway up to the deck on which to snuggle. Well, you know I mean on which to nap! The chimenea will come up but after the deck is stained. I want to minimize the number of times we move this heavy item.

Coffee Corner

Early weekend mornings will find us sitting on the deck, coffee in hand, watching the birds and hawks dart through the large pine trees at the edge of our yard. This is also a perfect spot to sit and watch a rain storm approach or enjoy the pre-storm breezes that are so common in Alabama. Whether you enjoy a cup of java or just watching the kids romp around the year, a small little sitting corner is perfect. Two chairs and a small table are all you need. It’s easy to move this little area around depending on where the sunset is, who is in the pool, or whether the playset has visitors. We have a great little set that just needs the right accessories. Here’s what we started with:

Nature’s Sounds

But our favorite activity on our deck is by far to simply sit and enjoy the sounds and sights of our southern neighborhood. Though our children are grown as are those of our neighbors to the north, our neighbors next to them have four young children and our neighbors to the south have a three year old. So there is usually some sweet child chatter or excitement within earshot. We don’t often hear the neighbors behind us but the other day we spotted the Mrs. chasing a chicken, yes a chicken, around the yard. When my dear friend Anne the Christmas tree lady gets into her gardening mode, you can hear opera or feisty Italian music in the air. And there are always a nice assortment of birds, hawks, crows, lizards, hummingbirds, bumble bees, dragon flies and butterflies. This year a family of bunnies took up residence under our play shed. And Mr. Blu is certain he saw a ground hog a few weeks ago. At dusk, the occasional bat or two can be spotted erratically flapping about. I’ll be snapping some photos to share in a future post.

First Things First

So, while I will wait until after the stain is applied to permanently decorate our new deck, I’m starting with the basics…a small lounging area and a coffee corner. Here is a photo of the last deck update from FIVE (I wrote two but it was five, yikes) years ago, Back Deck Makeover on a Budget. I have intentions of putting this mantle back on the deck. But it will need a major upgrade to be considered more contemporary and suitable for the style of this new outdoor area.

All of the current patio furniture received a fresh new coat of Rustoleum spray paint. We are probably going to use a very pale grey semi-transparent stain on the new wood. I will be posting about that process. In an attempt to keep the area cool in the summer, I’ve decided to switch from the traditional black vintage furniture to a crisp white. So last week, I spent one day spraying all of the furniture white.

Maintenance Issues

In the spring I had cleaned the house siding with a product called 30 SECONDS Outdoor Cleaner. It was super easy to use as it attached to the garden hose. There were a few residual spots that needed to be cleaned with the more powerful pressure washer.

So while I had my Ryobi pressure washer out to clean those stubborn spots from our vinyl siding, I decided to clean all of the furniture cushions. I had washed them all at the beginning of the summer so they just needed a quick refresh. A quick pass with the pressure washer did the job! Note: pressure washers can do damage to fabric so if your fabric is older, I would suggest hand washing them or using a brush, soapy water, and your garden hose as the lower water pressure will not damage the fabric.

Use What You Have To Get Started

I grabbed a couple of outdoor rugs from the garage and set up a few small seating areas. The dining table got a quick update with white spray paint. I’m still considering a few grey pieces of furniture but for now, the white is a nice change.

Here is our little coffee corner. The chairs are tucked under the eave so that we can stay out of the sun in the morning. Even early morning sun can be brutal in Alabama. I arranged the lounging area at the edge of the deck so that we can watch the birds and other creatures. Behind the lounging area is the dining area. I will be replacing this small rug with a more appropriate size once the deck has been stained.

So, while we are in wait mode for the deck wood to dry, we have several areas ready to use. I took advantage of scattering some of my favorite vintage items on the deck. Mr. Blu is determined to have a more contemporary look to this new deck. So I will enjoy my vintage finds in the interim. And I think we all know, a few old things will be mixed amidst the new. After all, once a vintage soul, always a vintage soul. I am a little worried about that mantle. It is in pretty rough shape after 5 years in the Alabama sun and heat. But I love it so I will figure it out!

I have one more set of updated photos. As I was writing this post, I was anxiously awaiting an Amazon delivery. Of course it showed up at 7 PM after a torrential downpour. So here are the updated photos of the little coffee corner fully staged.

I was waiting for these vinyl siding hooks. How did I not know about these?

My niece had the coolest primitive star hanging on her shed. Apparently, these are a thing and thank the Good Lord I found out about these because we all need these in our lives. You can now hang the coolest decor items ON YOUR VINYL SIDING!!! You are welcome!

So easy to install. Just wiggle them into place. And then pull down. You will feel a slight click as the hook settles into place. Make sure you pull down to test before you place your item on the hook. It must be secure.

I hope you have enjoyed my first update to decorating a new deck. Round two will come after that stain is applied. I have a feeling you will be seeing alot of this new outdoor space! Send me your suggestions! This post was created as part of my sweet friend Juliet at A Loverly Life and her Outdoor Entertaining Blog Hop! This is our 3rd Hop in just as many weeks! For the Harvest Hop I made these beautiful Hydro dipped pumpkins: Last week was the Apple Picking Hop and I stepped outside of my comfort zone with a recipe that was super easy for Crock Pot Apple Cobbler. Below are the posts from my creative blogging friends who are participating: