Work is Done Time to Party on the Deck

I’ve written often about how much we enjoy our outdoor spaces on the covered front porch and the party deck.

For us, outdoor spaces are a very important part of our lives, we would love to have a fully tricked-out outdoor kitchen, but that will have to wait awhile.

Another benefit of living in a small house is that it doesn’t require much maintenance, not as much as our bigger home did in the city, anyway.

We have smaller spaces to care for routinely and smaller spaces to paint and with most of our yard being left to the natural beauty of the woods, not a lot of lawn care.

There is some maintenance, however. Last year, we had to stain the house (we have to do this about once every 10 years) and the west side of The Belle Writer’s Studio, which takes a beating from the afternoon sun.

We use Behr stain on the buildings and the deck, which we saw rated highest from Consumer Reports.

This year, it’s time to stain the party deck and covered front porch. This is the first time the front porch has needed it in its 11 year life and the third time for the surface of the deck, which also takes a beating from big dog paws/nails. This is the first time we needed to do the railing.

We got it all done this past weekend, just in time for the summer deck party season and friends who are coming to visit over the Memorial Day weekend.

Now, I just need to get the flowers in the containers on the deck and clean the inside and we’ll be ready for the first unofficial weekend of summer.

What are you doing to the exterior of your home to get ready for the summer outdoor season? If you stain your deck, what do you use?