Hey all, and happy belated Mother's day to all the lovely US mommies out there. Hope you had a great, celebratory weekend. We enjoyed a lot of quality family time, including strawberry picking, Sesame Street Live and a fancy brunch out! It was a wonderful weekend made even more special by our sweet girls and their homemade cards.
We also spent a lot of time debating the fate of our back deck, this past weekend. If you remember, we laid out these plans for our backyard makeover. And found some inspiration highlighted in these images.
But, here's the ugly truth.
This deck and awning are awful. And we are still miles away from a true decision on the extent of the makeover. We are pretty set on the wrap around stairs coming off the deck, but as far as the awning goes, we are completely undecided.
We've researched replacement awnings.
We're researched retractable awnings.
We've researched new canopy structures.
We've researched permanent roofs.
We've even researched patio umbrellas.
We've run the full gamut on this project, from bare minimum to full on construction, but we keep running into the same problem - we haven't decided what to do with the back of the house for the long term. We might want to expand at some point, so it seems silly to invest a lot of money into a project that will probably, ultimately be scraped.
So, how do we spruce up the back deck at minimal cost, while still maintaining a certain level of aesthetic?
How about this beautiful arbor/pergola?
Less expensive than a permanent roof and all of the awning options actually, but still has a presence and a sense of permanence that a simple patio umbrella just can not provide.
Seriously, I'm not sure why it took us so long to come up with this idea.
I love both of these looks - originally leaning more toward the white columns with dark stained pergola and deck, but after finding the gray stained pergola I think it could be the new winner!
Which one do you prefer?
Remember we have a vaguely french inspired peach stucco house :)
Here's the kicker though (and where I need even more help), a pergola doesn't really provide much protection from sun or rain.
So, what can we do?
I know one of my extremely talented readers is going to have an outstanding idea for us.
I should also mention we plan to install outdoor fans hanging under the pergola so said hypothetical protection needs to be on top of the pergola, not underneath.
So there you have it - two questions:
1. Which style pergola do you prefer?
2. How do we protect against rain and sun?
Please share until your hearts content in the comment section! We really need your help.
until next time,
