All Decked Out

I'm not really one for outdoor plants. I had a summer job at a garden centre in university - so you'd think I'd have a knack for it or something, but I really don't. Although, I can appreciate a beautiful garden, I have very little interest in taking care of one myself. But something about this long long LONG winter is making me crave time out on our back deck... and it was in ROUGH shape. Old rusty BBQ, random half empty planters with grass and/or chives growing all askew, and an assortment of miscellaneous house-related paraphernalia. Not exactly Better Homes & Gardens. So I've made it my mission to deck it out. We WILL enjoy the patio this summer. Here's how it looks so far:

I spotted these rugs at Target a few weeks ago and suspected one might be just what we need to brighten up the patio. (Can you tell I go to Target a lot?)

I also picked up a few awesome and modern little concrete planters to house the herbs and peppers we picked up. I also grabbed two planters of kale because I'm a kale maniac. Side note: Apparently, I am interested in outdoor plants if I can eat them. Not otherwise.

I also popped into Home Sense (I was on a patio SPREE) and found this super cute gold garden lantern and an indoor-outdoor LED candle (safety first, yo). It casts such a cozy glow when on at night and adds structural interest to all the greenery during the day.

I picked up these adorable little globe string lights after spotting ones my sister had bought. We strung them around the lower portion of the X that connects our deck with the upper deck and it makes for such an awesome bistro-patio feel. I want to spend all my time here. We were initially planning to string two sets of lights all the way up the X but these ones are SO bright already that we decided not to overdo it. I don't really want our deck to feel like an interrogation room.

Other deck plans include replacing the BBQ (the current one is 10 years old and has more than paid its dues), a fresh coat of paint, and finding a pair of small-scale comfy chairs for sitting out and reading. Although the current bistro set is great for dinner, it isn't comfortable enough for an afternoon of patio-ing. Adding chairs will require a little reshuffling of the layout, but I think it can be done! 

Side note: the colour of the rug mimics the front door of our house, which makes me SO happy even though it's not physically possible to see both at the same time and chances are - no one but me will EVER notice.

If you need me, I'll be on the deck.