Leander Deck (2023)

Initially when we moved into the house we said we would hold off on doing any upgrades to the exterior for a year or so.  That idea lasted about a month!  We enjoyed our view so much and wanted to create a cozy space out there - sure we already had the outdoor furniture & BBQ, but the whole thing needed a little "sprucing up".  

p.s. it didn't help that the local IKEA started sending me all sorts of emails luring us into their store!

Here is the deck right after we got the keys to the house:

Initially I wanted to use IKEA's ceramic tiles, but after some "mis"calculation (and a few trips to IKEA), we decided on their wood decking tiles.  Don't ask Barry how many more times we went back & forth - I'll tell you.  I started out wanting grey, and then switched to brown (that's 2 trips)...then our local IKEA did not have enough of the brown, so we had to pick up the remaining tiles at the FRISCO location (yes, folks, that is in Dallas!  Thank goodness we were heading that way to fly out of DFW for our Iceland trip!).

Don't worry, I am helping, not just photographing - of course it was in the 90's when we did all of this in July!

Then I decided the wall was too "bare" and had a hankering to paint a wall "blue-green" (inspired by the wall color in a pizza place we are at in Iceland).  Several trips back & forth to Lowes, and at least 2 more trips to IKEA for the tables to fit alongside our BBQ:

Weather can be brutal in Texas so I made covers for the BBQ & tables

(NOTE: I did not make Barry do anything for this part):

It is very nice to unwind in the back now with a Margarita :)  Also a great place for the rug I "invested" in on our trip to Oaxaca!

(FYI, many more trips to IKEA for the fake plants...and a few trips to the rock place for river rock)

It is one of Luke's favorite places to hang out!