All decked out! (Coming soon!)

When people ask me about my blog, I refer to it as a "food and lifestyle blog." That was my intention when I first started it back 2010. But, as we all know, it's more food than anything else. Yes, there are table settings, and occasionally a little about what's going on in my life, but I don't devote a lot of space to lifestyle. That's about to change, because I'm in the midst of what will end up being a huge change in my lifestyle.

I decided, because living alone I am now the Queen of Everything, that after three very difficult, exhausting years of care giving, and the painful loss of my husband of 21 years, that I deserved a treat. When I moved into this house five years ago, it was a spec home. So, it was new, but not one that I’d designed on my own. It had a small cedar deck on the back, accessible from the dining area. Why a cedar deck was built onto this house in a neighborhood full of composite decks, I'll never know. But I do know that I had to paint this rascal every single summer. Having moved here from a 120-year-old Victorian farmhouse with lots of gingerbread, that I needed to paint every year, I decided that I am just too old to paint. It’s not the way that I want to spend my time any longer.

After consulting neighbors, I got in touch with a contractor, and, last September, we came up with a plan for a covered deck with an open area to the side to use for grilling (Grilling recipes, people!). My contractor is excellent and, as a consequence, a very busy guy, so he wasn't able to start working on it until the middle of last month.

Every Monday, until its completion (and then brace yourself for posts about dining al fresco!), I'm going to give you updates on this project. It’s the most exciting thing I've been involved in in a long time. Not just the excitement of seeing one guy -- that's right one man doing this on his own -- build a wonderful addition to the house, but also planning what I'm going to do with it by way of decoration.

Today's post is merely an introduction to the project.

Here is the back of the house with the deck that was original. It was entirely cedar, but I wanted to paint it to blend in with the decks in the rest of the neighborhood, so painted it white with a stained floor. The neighbors appreciated that, because I didn't stick out like such a sore thumb, but it ended up being a heck of a lot of work, not only because I had to paint it every year no matter what type or brand of paint I used, but I also had to stain the floor.

The old deck is gone, and I couldn't be happier.

The framework is going up for the base of the deck. It looks massive. In fact, as I look at it, I can only wonder what the neighbors are thinking. It's a monster! I have one of the smaller homes in the neighborhood, but, clearly, the biggest deck. Let me tell you, it's caused quite a stir.

Next Monday I'll show you what it looks like it framed out.

Oh, here is a bit of eye candy. The colors I’ve chosen to use in decorating my new space are those shown in this piece of fabric that I’m using to make napkins. I can hardly wait!

All photos by Joe Rogers of Advanced Carpentry and Remodeling, LLC