Back Deck Makeover

May 17, 2017 6 Comments

Category: Home Life, Projects
Tags: Entertaining, Outdoor deck, Play dates, Play space

It’s officially patio season in Chicago! Like many of us who have been hibernating all winter, I’m so excited to finally have sunshine in our forecast.

Check out our new back deck that’s prepped for baby play time and summer BBQs.

With a beautiful Mother’s Day weekend forecast in sight, my mother-in-law and I decided to tackle planting flowers for the season. One thing lead to another, and before we knew it, we not only had our planters filled bright and had the garden groomed, but also had a new and improved deck space – perfect for the baby!

As you urbanites know, deck space is priceless so we really wanted to maximize what we had to not only be suitable for us but also for Miss Chloe. So far, she’s loving it!

We switched up our furniture design so could make room for a play space. We added this awesome Step2 Panda Climber jungle gym, Play Table and most importantly, this super soft turf since Chloe is still half crawling/half walking.

I love the jungle gym because it’s surprisingly compact and will entertain her for years, I’m sure. There’s so much she can do with it!

This water table (below) will also be ideal for summer since the babies can splash water and stay cool without the fuss of a blow up pool.

I also brought out some “outdoor” toys and got these great bins from Container Store to help organize them.

While we got most of our furniture last year from Crate and Barrel, we simply added a few things to help make the space more homey and usable – like this half umbrella to block sun, some fun new pillows and small rug and buffet for serving dinner.

Carolann, my mother-in-law,and I then planted some fun, vibrant flowers to brighten up the space. We also added an herb garden since I love to cook with fresh herbs. Really happy with how it turned out (shout out to my MIL for all your help!!).