I love my deck but not in this state! I have nothing against the heritage based colours of bottled green and creamy yellow but they had to go, they weren’t me. Also destined for the tip were the rickety stairs leading down to the yard and the massive fluro light. The deck became the dumping ground/work shed during the reno. Whilst driving to the shops, Mum found part of an old 1950s kitchen bench (including cupboards and drawers) on the side of the road waiting for council clean-up. A few hurried calls later (although it was not like it was a hot ticket item), Dad and I were loading the unit into my cavernous hatch-back. It became the much treasured workbench and lived on the deck – ground zero for tools, paint brushes, paint, sand paper and any other bits and pieces needed to keep things moving.

It still amazes me how much stuff/junk accumulates while renovating and where it all ends up. This is exceptionally tidy for the deck. Trusty 1950s kitchen workbench in the background!

Ready to be washed and painted

The beams and French doors were painted white to keep it fresh and light and the back cladding on the house was painted in another Resene colour called Surrender in 3/4 strength, which was a pale grey. The deck had never been stained or painted and was in desperate need of anything really! In a moment of weakness, I allowed the man at the paint shop to convince me to get a Mission Brown stain. Anyone who grew up in the 70s or 80s knows it’s not the best. And I soon discovered this. It’s literally a dark reddish-brown. So to reduce the intensity of the colour I diluted it with turps – as it was an oil based stain. And it didn’t come out too badly. Luckily it was something that was going to be covered with furniture and also required updating every few years.

First coat of stain on the deck. And the newly built step which doubles as extra seating during peak BBQ season! This was built by Bob the Builder – quicker and easier on this job.

Buddy thinking it’s play time while I’m in the middle of staining the deck.