Transforming a Deck
My client has secretly asked me to transform his deck whilst he whisks his wife off to Costa Rica for the week.
With a tight budget and artistic liscense in hand, it's a challange, but one that I am enjoying and excited about.
After a week of shopping, researching materials, painting..... And my favourite part - buying plants, I'm ready to get the installation going this weekend.
Granted it's still a little early for a huge choice in plants at the nurseries. After two trips out to Long Is and a nosey around the local nurseries, Gowanus Nursery had by far the most creative choices, but she always does! So with the bones of the design intact, they can add more plants later in the season if they wish.
I will post completed pictures next week. Watch this space.
Beth
Update on 2010-04-09 01:46 by Beth Gibson
The Transformation is Complete
This was a really fun project for me. l felt like l was on an episode of Ground Force, although the clients were not there to bring me cups of tea and biscuits at break time, and a film crew to record the progress. The time constraint in some ways made it crazy at times, but l think we all work at our best creatively when under pressure. It gives us that edge that makes for something unexpected.
So as promised below is the method behind my madness. Please feel free to add comments, or any questions if you have any.
Fence - Something a little less conservative. So I went with the bamboo fence, a couple of reasons:
- It was reasonably priced.
- Given the wind is an issue on the deck, it needed something that would allow the air to pass through.
- Easy to attach/detach given that the original fence may eventually go.
Paint - First and foremost, the color I felt needed to change on the two main exposed walls. They had no relation to the vast blue skyline directly behind them.
Birch Branches - A fun way to achieve height for suspending the globe lights. We anchor-bolted them to the wall, safety reasons most importantly, but also to create the illusion of them floating.
Lighting - I wanted to have more than one option for the lights. The globe fairy lights define the space, whereas the light installation I made, is for a more intimate feel.
AC Cover Up - The original plan was to build a solid frame, and to cover the whole thing with the remaining bamboo fencing material. Unfortunately the fencing was shorter than specified. Given the time constraints, I had to come up with a quick alternative. The blackboard was a fun option for the kids, and could be easily changed later if they decided to order more bamboo. I'm sure the kids will vote for it staying. l would have loved to get a colored piece of perspex cut for the top of it, but with time and budget it was not a option.
Bamboo Plant - An alternative way to create natural shade. Also a one in a million sound when the wind passes through its foliage. In some ways it feels it's cooler than it actually is when you can hear the breeze.
Palm Plant - Cheap and cheerful greenery and volume. It will not winterize, but for $20 from Ikea you cant go wrong.
Table - It made sense to me to store the table, leaving more room for play, and its easy enough to pull out when needed.
Herbs - The breeze alone creates an amazing aroma. Within a month they will be well established adding more depth to the A.C screen. In addition they are great to use on the BBQ and also in cocktails. I used Lemon Verbena, Rosemary, Thyme, Peppermint and Pineapple Sage. They all spoke summer to me.
Take note - There are no saucers for any of the planters. They are a recipe for mosquitos. If you have any collection of water in your outdoor space, simply dump it after every rainfall (I'll post some surprising info on mosquitos another time).
Originally I wanted to remove the fence and use large planters/plants to create a screen. That way both neighbors (who are very good friends) could move the screen to make for a great party space. It wasn't in the budget this time around, but maybe later in the year!.
Hope you enjoy the transformation. I will post night time shots soon.