I did a whole hell of a lot of sewing last weekend. A marathon of sorts. I was adamant about getting the pergola and daybed finished by the end of the weekend. To accomplish this, I spent 13 hours sewing on Saturday. For realsies. El Granto helped too, measuring, cutting and installing grommets. What do we have to show for our work? Continue reading “Pergola Canopy”
Tag: sunbrella
NEW Outdoor Drapes!
We have new outdoor drapes!
Before I get to that, do you remember our budget friendly DIY outdoor drape project from a couple summers ago? They were cheap, quick and easy….but that’s about it. One summer of use, and they became stiff, riddled with mildew, and a haven for spiders. Awesome right? NOT! (FYI, I’m totally trying to bring back “NOT” as a hip thing to say. You with me?)
We took them down, washed and bleached them, only to have them shrink 12″ and still be covered with mildew. All in all, not one of my best DIY’s. I certainly got what I paid for. Aka about $50 (and most of that was spent on the curtain “rod”.) Continue reading “NEW Outdoor Drapes!”
Pergola Progress
Not quite sure where this week went. Last time I checked it was somewhere around Tuesday, and then BAM! Friday!
Hey, I’m not complaining, but I sure do wish I got more accomplished around the house this week.
Here is what we’ve been up to.
The pergola started creeping off paper and into fruition. We made a stop at our local lumber yard and picked up all the wood, including the 12′ pieces. Thanks again goes to El Granto’s Mum and Dad for the car loan.
After some demolition of the current deck’s fence/top posts, a big shout out goes to the previous owner for stripping Every. Single. Screw he used to assemble the deck. Really awesome work… A sawzall with a nail cutter blade later, and a pry bar, and we were rid of them, busted screws and all.
With demo complete, we started building anew.
The new posts were measured, kerfed (to go around the ledger on the wall), and up they went.
Then the front and side beams followed suit.
This was a bit of a scary ladder moment (14′ drop to our new concrete walkway with hands above head holding a 2x6x12), but El Granto took over for me, and got it done.
Decent progress, but still a ways to go. We have to add the cross beams, which overlap each other, so some careful math and half lap joints are in our future. Then we have to add some more fence boards. This kinda sucks. As our new pressure treated lumber is greener than a 19 year old after St. Paddy’s Day and our current fence/privacy screen has faded nicely. I know you’re going to lay into me about staining the deck. That is a ton of upkeep, and I’d like to ride the bare wood train as long as we can. I bought some Cabot deck wash, so here’s hoping I can brighten up the old bits a little, and that those new PT boards will fade quickly.
Back to the pergola. Our plan for the is to have a large open pergola like our inspiration:
This means not a lot of cross beams for shade, but what it does mean is that we are adding a fabric shade canopy.
We selected a Sunbrella sheer outdoor fabric for the canopy, Shadow Snow. It will filter out the harsh sunlight, but not block it completely. The last thing we wanted to do is remove all the beautiful natural light from our bedroom. The canopy will be loosely draped over the frame, and removable for winter. (Thinking corner grommets and hooks on the top of the pergola.)
Speaking of fabric. Our whole Sunbrella order arrived this week, and I’m super stoked.
Looks like I’ve got a hell of a lot of sewing to do! Anyone want to come help? I’ve got two machines! That or I teach El Granto. I think that’s a damn good idea actually! He’s a great hand sewer. He’s the king of sewing motorcycle patches to his denim jacket and vest. No, not the gang variety. We’re friendly neighbourhood bikers, not Sons of Anarchy bikers.
Where was I? Busying myself with projects apparently. Looks like we’re going to have another full weekend.
P.S. It was my birthday yesterday, and my awesome husband baked me a gluten free cake. The dog was a bit jealous, but man was it good. Best. Husband. Ever.
Have a great weekend, and follow us on Instagram to see what we get up to!