Decorating Ideas for Furnishing the New Deck

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Now that the floating deck is done (or nearly done), my thoughts have turned to decor! Check out this inspiration board on what I’m planning to build, buy, and make over to get a relaxing, modern deck.

I suppose it’s only natural that once the floating deck build is more done than not-done, I’m no longer as concerned about how to create the frame or get the 45 degree angles right. Instead, my mind has moved on to the exciting decorating part.

In short: I want to park my tired ass on an outdoor sofa soooo bad, you guys. With a pretty little drink in a glass I just got from Homegoods. With some kind of spicy new cocktail recipe I created with jalapeños and cucumbers from my own garden. Under an umbrella that’s tilted juuuuust right to keep out the sun.

So, I drafted up this little design plan!

Relaxed Modern Deck Mood Board

• outdoor sectional
• Edison bulb outdoor string lights
• blue cantilevered outdoor umbrella
• navy square patterned pillow
• large striped pillow
• blue lumbar pillow
• glass and metal lantern set
• black Adirondack chair
• a fun patterned rug (or maybe thinking round??)

The deck itself will be getting stained soon, which I’m thinking should be a warm medium brown that goes well with the exterior’s tan and white color scheme. In contrast, I’m really liking the idea of a black, white, and blue combo that will add some crisp & cool (plus, we all know that’s my favorite color palette).

Since I already have two Adirondack chairs and a scrap wood bench, I’m in the process of painting those black (just finished today, barring any touch-ups — future post with a few painting tips coming soon!). They’ll likely be the interim seating until the big sectional project starts.

DIY Modular Outdoor Sofa

Since I don’t really want to spend the $1-2K it would cost to get a decent sectional, I’m going to have to build it. Here’s a little sneak peek at the design plan. I’ll share the woodworking plans once I go through the process and work out the kinks, but right now, just getting to design it is exciting!

The idea for that future project is to build several pieces that all go together to form a sectional when lined up. This way, it allows the most flexibility when friends are over since each chair can be moved around to form separate seat combinations. I’ll have to buy separate cushions for each, so that will be a little pricier than one or two long sofa cushions, but I think this will make us happiest long-term.

Is there anything you think I should add? Anyone got some advice on outdoor speaker options? I cannot WAIT to get out there and do some relaxing. Fingers crossed we can this fall!

P.S. Those of you who read this through an RSS feed reader (such as Feedly): I’ve been getting some blog consulting advice lately about changing how my blog posts go out on feed readers. I never really made the change to shorten my feed back when a lot of other blogs did. It’s been brought up again for a number of reasons that I won’t bore you with, but basically, there’s an element of compliance/legal stuff that didn’t really exist when I started blogging. I want to make sure I’m still making content available, but not putting myself in any hot water and I want to keep those of you who might be affected in the loop, just in case. If you see a shortened version of my blog posts, you can still find the full version directly on my blog.