Back Deck Bargains

This has been our spot lately! The weather has been awesome, I can officially say that this week so far has been "hot"....otherwise it's been perfect! So the laundry has gotten behind as it piles up faster in the summer months and my house is slacking a little.  But after the winter we had, I have to get my outdoor fix! Since today is a bit hot,  I thought I would share with you some of my steals and deals on our little deck.  Seems like everyone is on a budget these days and looking for a bargain or freebie    Bargain shopping can be kind of a mind twister compared to just going and buying exactly what you want. Questions go through my head like this: do I buy this because it's such a good deal even though I don't really need it?,  how much more money will I put into it?, or how much time and energy will I put into it making it my own?, is it worth it?, how much is it brand new?.
Then sometimes you come across a deal that you can't resist.....

I found this patio set in the middle of winter at the Salvation Army, I was shocked when the guy told me $20 for the set! It didn't have cushions but I knew the set would fit perfectly on my little deck.  I thought about making the cushions but when I compared the price of buying verses making, I came to the conclusion that foam is expensive all around, and there wasn't a big enough difference to make them.  So I skipped the DIY and bought the cushions for $200 at Target. Probably spent $10 bucks a chair for Target to make them...it was worth it!

Our house gets hit hard by the sun every morning. So I bought this cute umbrella for $100 at Kohl's.  It was a bit of a stretch for me, but didn't want to go cheap here.

My Mother n Law gave me this adorable plant stand!   We downsized on flowers this year so we could invest into bigger projects.  So this little stand will stand empty, but I'm thinking of putting a couple of plates on it to set a drink down.  I also think it would be cute on a table as a cake, cupcake, pie or appetizer stand for a party!

Right now around the deck is looking pretty shaggy! We plan to put in a gravel patio.  Gravel you ask? If we stay here for good, we plan to extend out our kitchen so we didn't want to put anything  permanent down that we would have to rip out later.  Plus I've been drooling over some gravel patios in Ballard Design catalog.  So I think I have a vision of what I want!

We want to put a fire pit in with pavers that we already have and put a long table and chairs along the house..

I've been slowly prepping the patio as we are still working on the fence and getting the play house up.  Being in the middle of projects is not the best of times, but I try and stay focused on the reward! I look at our front yard, though it's not completely done, it's maintainable now.  I know next year we will have more projects, but I see a light at the end of the backyard, and see us just maintaining it too next year!

Caught a few cute moments of the boys helping daddy and Katie managing her new yard.

Our baby girl is going to be a teenager this year....the big 13, so we are enjoying her so much.  And she continues to age beautifully!

So I hope I'm not the only one who has laundry piling up as life is a little unbalanced being outside so much!  The hot weather will surely come and my days will be more inside or by my moms and dads pool.   Will be sharing more about our backyard journey.