Guess who is celebrating his 10th birthday?
We recently purchased deck furniture to replace a table and chair set that was completely rusted. Like more rust than metal. The table and chair set was new to us 12 years ago when we built our deck, but had been my in law’s for about 15 years. To say that this table and chair set has seen better days would be an understatement. The previously white cast iron table is now rust. You can see barely any white paint. The last of many paint jobs did not last. I used to hose down the set, then I moved to pressure washing it, but recently I have resorted to covering the table with a plastic table cloth. The rust was that awful looking. I had cushions for the chairs, but invariably I would be nicked by a sharp piece of rust.
Because of the state of the deck furniture and the fact that our bamboo blind splintered in to a million pieces during a particularly fierce windstorm, we sat on the deck exactly once last year. The sun was far too bright to eat dinner. The rust stains from the table and chairs were enough to prevent us from using the deck. And we had even purchased a new BBQ grill.
Since the rusty table and chairs was not only an eyesore but stained our clothes, we needed new deck furniture. Because we eat on the deck only two or three times a summer, I wanted to buy a set of deck lounge chairs. Chaise lounges are fine, but what I really wanted was a sofa, two chairs, and a coffee table. I wanted the deck to be more “lounging” area and less “eating” area.
My parents gave me money to purchase deck furniture for my birthday. Though my mother clipped and mailed me ads for deck lounge furniture, I wasn’t making any progress in actually deciding on what I want. Enter Dad Knows Better.
While I was in San Diego for a press trip for the 2014 Nissan Versa Note (blog post to come), my husband and the kids prepped the house for a certain 10-year-old’s belated birthday party. We are all about procrastination in the Musings from Me household. The prospect of a birthday party or a family gathering is the ONLY thing that galvanizes us in to any sort of ACTION. The deck was a disaster. The yard worse. While I was gone there was power washing, sweeping, and mowing going on.
I returned to a sparklingly clean deck without any weeds. Gazing at the furniture brought me crashing down to earth. Yep, still as rusty as ever. And the other table was still as stained with paint and nail polish from a craft activity gone wrong. I knew that a couple of tablecloths would save the day. My husband knew better.
He scoped out a couple of likely lounge chair sets. So did my parents. The most attractive set was from Home Depot…Hampton Bay Edington. An iron two-seater sofa with deep, comfy cushions with two chairs with matching cushions. A low table. A chaise lounger with matching cushions completed the set. To top it off, my husband got the BEST deal. The whole set was marked down to $1,000, and then further discounted to $650.
So we now have seating on the deck for 5 that is not rusted or stained with paint. The rusty table and chair set is destined for bulk trash pickup day. The stained table and chair set can stay for a bit longer. I’m excited that we reclaimed our deck from the weeds, moss, and rust after years of neglect. I need to post more about my son’s awesome Laser and Water Tag Party (post to come)!
Happy July to you and your family!
