Things are Starting to Bloom

 

Spring may be on the calendar, but Winter refuses to let go! There's a chance for snow in the forecast for tomorrow night!! Meanwhile, I've started to create new deck decor out of a few metal pieces I found last year. This is one way I can declutter my garage while keeping my hand in creating new art.

I also have a few frames in the garage that need to be filled and hung on my house walls, which will have to wait until I paint or print what I want to frame. But back to my floral metal work. It was a dull unstained metal structure. Even the flowers had no color to them. At first I was thinking of my front deck and different shades of blues, but that deck is going in a different direction, and my back deck is looking bare. So I used a few bright Spring colors of acrylic paints for my flowers after spray painting the branches white.

My deck opens with French doors from my bedroom, a zoning concession made for my wheelchair-bound husband. It is also much bigger than the limits the city usually has. The VA rehabbed the house, requiring two accessible for motorized wheelchairs. The four front steps and landing were covered by the deck and ramp. I didn't want the contractor to mess with the backdoor as its door also led to the basement, so I suggested a deck with the French doors. 

The handicapped access part of the deck was a Lift with a dedicated electrical box. We also had stairs from the deck to the backyard. Sadly, my husband didn't get to enjoy the deck for very long, but when he sat out in the sun, he enjoyed every minute! 

With Spring Comes New Deck Decor

Decluttering is catching--really! My sister was ready to donate a set of three faux native American pottery pieces before I swooped in last Fall and took them home with me. It took me six months to play with them, but one of them is now decorating my back deck. I used different colors than were original, but I noticed immediately that it was a ceramic piece that someone painted and fired up. I think they go well on my deck, and you will see more photos as I "deck" my deck as Spring comes fully into bloom.

I used acrylic paints. The blue seemed a little too intense, so I had to brush and lightly wipe away some silver paint to tone it down. I can't wait to play with its matching piece (at least in size). The last piece is slightly bigger and I already put it out on my front deck (no pics, sorry). But I didn't do anything to it... 

I really love to take thrift store finds and cast offs from neighbors (and sometimes sisters) and give them new life. Do you like it? With all the decluttering I've been doing, I plan to entertain often this summer. I now have an (almost) cleared out) basement, my house is well into its Spring cleaning shift, and my deck should be awesome for parties. Anybody live in the Chicagoland area?

Meanwhile, just because it's the end of the month, I'm not abandoning my decluttering. I still have hills (at least it's no longer mountains) of craft supplies to weed through and keep or donate