I mentioned last week that we stained the deck.

This has been a very difficult process since thanks to the time change we only have about an hour, at most, of daylight every evening. Last weekend we moved everything off the deck, and power washed it. Which, we’ve decided needs to be done every spring, because it was beyond gross. I actually fell one day off the top steps because it was rainy that day and I stepped onto a dirtier area that had become super slick. Not again folks.

After cleaning, we waited for the weekend to get our stain on. Last time we did it on a weeknight and we were out there in the dark until 10:30pm. We learned our lesson. Mike picked the color last time and he picked Warm Golden Honey, which I’ll admit was not my favorite. It definitely faded a lot after this photo, but it was always a little too orange for my taste:

So, this time I wanted to go with a dark color, Sherwin Williams Charwood (SW3542):

Via

We bought 6 gallons (the amount we used last time – thanks past Mallory for writing that note in the blog!) and went to work on Sunday.  When we started the stain looked really gray.  Like, light blue gray, but we had hours of work ahead of us, so I just assumed that as it dried it would (I don’t know, magically?) turn dark brown.  We used 2 gallons up when Mike opened the third and we realized the problem.  The 3rd gallon was the gorgeous brown you see up there, while the 2 we used were tinted Charwood using a weathered gray base.  What are the chances that we pick the 2 out of 6 that are mistinted to start with? 

We had all ready done a third of the deck at this point so our only solution was to return to Sherwin Williams and exchange all of our Charwood for the weathered gray color. 

Instead of my awesome dark brown deck, we have a giant light gray, almost blue one.  Womp, womp.

The more I think about it, the more bummed I get.  I told Mike while we were staining – as a sick joke – that the only good thing about having to stain every couple of years is that I’ll get my Charwood deck in 2-3 years when we have to redo this horrible process again!

I guess if we weren’t so pressed for time (no more staining in November!) to get this project completed, we would have opened more cans to see if they were all gray, taken the 3 seconds to see the bases were labeled differently, or freakin’ tested it on a piece of scrap wood!  Coulda shoulda woulda. 

The next 5-6 months the deck will probably be covered in snow, so we’ll see how I feel once spring time rolls around.  Hopefully the warm weather will make me forget about this feeling and I’ll get excited again about decorating the deck. 

I recently received a comment on our porch reveal asking what our deck looks like.  I admit I’ve been bad about sharing the updates back there.  Back in the day, I outlined the “zones” I wanted to create, and I’m happy to report not much has changed and we even purchased all the large items we didn’t have.  You may have noticed these in the drone flyover post.

And, my original “zone” plan:

We bought a dining set as well as a sectional and a coffee table.  Both are from Target.  The dining set is the Threshold Holden 6-Piece Metal/Wicker Rectangular Patio Dining Furniture Set.  We also bought a navy blue umbrella and granite base (seen here, but no longer available on the website).

The sectional is the Threshold Heatherstone Wicker set with 5 sections with a faux stone coffee table (similar to this set).

Since the weather is crappy more often than not, I don’t leave any of the cushions out full time.  So, instead of the “food set-up zone” I imagined, we opted for a storage container.  It’s fine because we actually have larger parties than the deck alone could handle, so our food tables are set-up down in the driveway with the eating areas.  With all the sectional cushions, dining chair cushions and extra pillows, the storage container alone couldn’t hold everything so we also picked up the Ikea TOSTERÖ for $20 and it’s held up surprisingly really well.  I leave it on top of the storage bin during the nice weather months and then we toss it in the attic of the garage during winter. 

I still plan to add string lights, which we already own from our wedding reception, but Mike and I have to build some supports, which I plan to make semi-permanent so that we’re more likely to use the lights if the supports are always there!  Since we’re 5 minutes away from snow here, this will be a project for next spring. 

But, before the snow hits (and with the freaky 75 degree weather we’re experiencing right now), we wanted to re-stain the deck.  We finished most of it yesterday, but we still have touch-ups and a few sections along the sides to complete, but I’ll be back later to share.  We had a huge hiccup happen, (one word: mistint), and I’m still not sure how I feel about it now.  Hopefully later this week we can add the furniture back on and feel a little better!