Another Deck Update

We finally have the deck basically completed for now--there are some things we still need to do...like make the gate that goes out to the alley functional. Dee gave us some metal chairs that I hit with a few coats of happy yellow spray paint, and our orange umbrella found a new home. I'd like to find some kind of side table(s) to hold mojito glasses :) For some reason, I keep picturing using tree stumps for tables...feeling au natural. Now, where do I get some tree stumps? We are cooking up plans to install an artsy path leading out to the deck, cause it will look nice and will make it much more enjoyable to walk through the gravel with bare feet. We'll also do the same kind of path through the gravel to the veggie garden. 

A Work in Progress

We finally got inspired to keep working on the corner of the backyard where the bottlebrush tree used to be. Last weekend, Jared got the remaining stump dug out of the ground, and we decided to try out a small deck in that space instead of just filling it in with pavers. The boards aren't really installed yet, but I couldn't help just laying them out to get a sense of what it will look like. It is a small space, but I think there will be enough room for at least a bench and a little table, maybe a bench swing or something like that someday. Or maybe a playhouse for the kids? We might try to make it a little bigger and round out the shape a little bit, or we might just leave it square. It will be fun to have a nice, clean, usable corner there now--Parker says it is a "stage" where he and Levi can do performances :)