A New Pergola on the Deck!

So you know how I haven't been feeling much like DIYing lately? I go through phases and just like to focus on other home projects at times. But lately my mojo has been returning and there are SO MANY things I want to get going on!

I was so excited and got started one earlier this week...and it turned into an epic fail. Well, the project turned out beautifully, but it has taken absolutely forever to finish up. I'm not kidding…FOREVER!! Argh. I'll share more of that later this week -- I love it, but there were many curse words uttered, not gonna lie. 

Today I'm focusing on a project I'm NOT doing myself, and sometimes (especially after the project gone wrong this weekend), that is a wonderful, fantastic, beautiful thing. I mean, bliss. 

This one was actually my husband's idea and when he said we should go ahead with it I was all, dude let's do this thing. And let's hire someone else to do this thing. :) 

Let's take you back a bit first -- to how this part of our deck looked a few years ago: 

I mean…lovely, right? We LOVED it. I believe we got the metal gazebo from Sears and for the first couple of years it did great. 

THEN. We a particularly windy fall and winter one year and this happened: 

It was a total disaster -- there was broken glass everywhere from our lights we had in there. Then we had some early heavy snow and couldn't get outside to dismantle it. We had to wait for a warmer winter day to get it taken apart. 

We had another metal pergola on the other side of the deck that held up a little better and longer, but not much -- it was bent and a mess too. (That's the one I took down earlier this year.) 

Sooooo…I've learned that metal and fabric don't work back here. But because we get full sun out here all day long, we wanted something for some shade. For the past couple of years we've just had our table and chairs over in that spot: 

When we have the umbrella up it's pretty cool under there, but we don't use the space nearly as much as we used to when we had more shade. My husband has really been missing it, so that's why we went ahead with a new, sturdy, wood pergola that isn't going anywhere.

They started it this week and I'm already THRILLED with the potential: 

They've got a few more days to go but I'm so excited about this!!

As you can see we're not attaching it to the house -- we have a walkway on the deck between this sunken part and the house and we want to keep that open.

I did consider building our own and even looked into plans -- but we quickly realized we would need to get down under the deck, dig holes and use cement to get it done and decided to hire out:

Though after some inspection the guys doing the work (they are the "guys" we use for all big projects and always do a great job for a greater price - email me if you are in the Indy area and want their number) decided not to dig into the ground. Instead they are securing everything to the railing supports (that are in the ground) with very long bolts and the base that goes around the bottom of this section of the deck. It's crazy secure and I have no doubt it's going to hold up great. After seeing what they've done already I'm glad we're not doing it. :)

It will be done this week and I already have a very long list of projects to complete once they're done. Thankfully they are all fairly simple and inexpensive ones!

I've dreamed of adding globe lights like these out there again since the metal gazebo fell:

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I just love them. They finish off an outdoor space so beautifully.

We had them up before and it was so pretty at night: 

This time I want even more! We have an outlet off the deck so thankfully the power is already there. 

The great thing about that metal version was it had curtains that were great for keeping bugs out. We'd like to add a little privacy this time too, so I'll be adding drop cloth curtains out there like these: 

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I think I'll just add them along the one side where we have closer neighbors, but they'll stay open most of the time. 

And of course…another dreamy detail I've always wanted to add are some hanging flower baskets: 

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I cannot wait!! 

The guys are adding a lot of pretty details I wouldn't have considered too, so I'm excited to see the final result. 

I still have to decide what color we'll stain it -- we'll do that part ourselves. (We need to wait a bit since this is treated lumber.) I'm thinking we'll just do a redwood tone like the deck, but I'm not positive yet. White would look good with the railings but I tend to like a darker pergola. Any thoughts? 

We plan to move the outdoor table and chairs down the the patio and put the outdoor sofa (craigslist find years ago) back up in this area. I still have some figuring out to do with the set up. The way the top will be designed we should have really good shade under here all day. 

We've always felt like that spot is calling out for a pergola and I am so excited this is happening. I hope to show you the finished area in a few weeks and of course I'll share the projects I mentioned here along the way. 

Now, I'm off to finish up the one I started that will. not. end. I'll share that with you this week. :)