Outdoor Curtains Project Done

Roger and I got the idea from several HGTV shows about turning outdoor spaces into another room of your house. We also thought it could add some privacy on our deck. Since our deck is up higher from the ground, we can see right into our neighbors' backyards and homes. We started this project a few weeks ago and I was finally able to hang the drapes today. Three weeks ago I shopped around for outdoor fabric, brought home swatches and we decided on a striped fabric for color and price. Then I sewed the panels and tiebacks. I might have enough fabric leftover for some bench cushions. Two weeks ago Roger and I began the task of hanging the outdoor drapery hardware. It wasn't easy. We went through several ideas before we figured out they wouldn't work. The space between the arbor joists is only 2-3 inches wide so we really had to get creative to be able to fit our hands and tools in the space to hang the brackets. Finally it dawned on us how to make it happen and we did. And I was able to find outdoor quality drapery rods on sale plus I had a coupon. You know me, I never pay full price. They look really cool and add a little more privacy and shade on the deck. I really like how they turned out.

Our New Deck

Well, our new deck and arbor are almost complete. I'd say it's about 97%. All that's left is the skirting around the front bottom of the deck. The gentlemen who built it, Art & John from Aust-Tex Fence and Deck, were awesome. They are super skilled master carpenters. They reminded me a lot of my dad. Roger didn't get to meet them until day five and as soon as he met them when we walked back into the house the first thing he said was they reminded him of my dad. I seriously could sit there and watch them they are so talented. You could tell this wasn't their first deck. But it was best to leave them alone to do their thing. They did like to talk too so it was better to be out of sight and out of ear shot. But they were great and did an amazing job.

We are so excited about it. It's huge and beautiful. And once we get sod next week and I plant some lantana in the flower beds below the benches our back yard will be gorgeous and done! I can't wait. The sand lot back there is unbearable to be in for more than a few minutes. It doesn't help that there's an empty lot next to us and there's still a large part of the subdivision vacant and under construction. But at least we won't have the tornadoes of sand in our back yard anymore. We are so ready to have some grill outs. So get ready for an invitation!