At the beginning of the summer Matthew had made a mention to me that this was the summer we needed to repaint our deck. We have lived here almost 5 years and never painted it. Who knows when it was last done. Most of it was chipping and we didn’t want our wood to get any worse than it was. He thought we would just pick the same color and slap a coat on top. I had other plans. Like all our other projects, it snowballed. Join us on our deck makeover!
True story, in January I wrote down my dream companies to work with and Lowes was #1. Somewhere around the time Matthew mentioned we should paint, an opportunity to work with Lowes presented itself and I pitched them a deck reno. To my joy and amazement they accepted and started out partnership!
(before a powerwash)
(After a good power wash) 
I knew I wanted to use Lowes Valspar Stain and Sealer in a solid stain. I tested out SO.MANY.COLORS, but I am super particular about colors and tones and I knew I wanted it to be right. I went back and forth from just a good neutral to maybe a not-so-common color. I came across this green and fell in love. Valspar Holly Leaf.
Matthew and I decided we didn’t want to sand the whole deck. Its a pretty large deck and we have dreams of extending it in a few years. The expert at Lowes recommended we use a primer first and then paint. ….Now here is my biggest regret…and what I would do different next time…
I should have tinted my primer. Hands down. It was a pure white and my paint was dark green. Because of that we needed to paint a second coat of stain. Which meant we painted the whole deck, by hand, three times. I do NOT recommend that at all.
We went back and forth of whether rolling or spraying would be easier/faster and after a lot of research I chose to paint by brush and roller. I ended up spraying the lattice fencing on the outside bottom of the deck which made me decide I made the right choice.
Now this took MUCH longer than we had anticipated. Both Matthew and I have full time jobs and 4 small children and crazy schedules. I was determined to paint it all myself, but halfway through the first coat of stain I realized that next time, I will pay someone else to do it. It was not worth the amount of time and effort it took for us to paint it ourselves. I LOVE the final result, but it was a LOT of work and time. I am happy and proud that I did it myself, but I will leave it to the professionals next time. Lesson learned.
After the deck was painted I headed to Lowes to pick out some new items. I have always dreamt of a swinging egg chair and was so happy to have picked one up! I also knew I wanted to protect the paint job a little bit, and add some additional coziness to the deck, so I found the prettiest outdoor rug.
Matthew and I had trouble finding furniture we liked, that would also stand up to the test of our wild family, and one night I just asked him if he would build me a new set…..Within the week….He graciously accepted and set off to build me the most beautiful outdoor seating set!
We knew our old outdoor table was beyond repair so Matthew also built us a new table. I didn’t have the budget for all new chairs so I took a little spray paint and freshened them right up. Some new cushions and our dining area was all done! I can not wait for all the meals we will share out there! I will share more details about the furniture soon!
Overall this was such a HUGE transformation with really not much but a new paint job and some minor repairs and new furnitre but the impact is HUGE! We never had a seating area on our porch and now we spend each night together as a family just swinging and chatting. It fills my heart seeing it all done and being enjoyed.
Product links:
Valspar Bonding Primer and Sealer
#affiliatelinks have been used
