Cabana-Bana-Fo-Fana

So, one of my summer projects has been to make our back deck a little more “livable”. Long story short, it’s an awkwardly sized south-facing thing, and finding a way to enjoy spending time on it without getting cooked to a crisp in the summer sun has been, er… challenging. A few years back we got fed up with the whole umbrella meme – they were never large enough and always danced around dangerously in the wind – and we finally found a retractable cover that actually fit… after I’d built some 10″ tall stands to put the legs on, that is. But the fabric hasn’t done well in the weather (heat, wind, cold, ice, etc.), and once it hits 6 pm around here, it offers very little in the way of useful shade. What to do, what to do?

The sad, old cover – laid out on the grass for measuring.

Why, take advantage of the local fabric store’s outdoor fabric sale, of course! Sadly, the choices of colours and patterns were quite limited, but I managed to find 14 metres of some rather “festive” fabric that I didn’t hate – for just over $4 per metre, no less! (Naturally, the fabric I *really* liked wasn’t part of the sale, and was going for $36 per metre… So, yeah. $4/m fun fabric it was!) Next, it was time to use the old cover as a pattern for the new, and then use the rest of the fabric to make some new half-curtains – long enough to block out that 6 pm sun, but not so long that you couldn’t still enjoy the garden…

The new cover and half-curtains creating a cabana-like feel.

A bit of rearranging of the bbq and furniture, and the addition of some flower boxes, an old IKEA rug, and some colourful solar lanterns… and voila – an awesome “new” retreat was ours!

The cover and one set of curtains, as seen from the side.

Eating outside… reading… watching the children play in the yard… why, everything is far more enjoyable when one isn’t worried about getting fried or squinting so hard that you give yourself a headache. The curtains are easily detached (thanks to the use of Velcro) and the cover can be drawn back during storms – and this time I’ll be sure to take all the fabric in over the winter, so hopefully we can enjoy it for years to come. Next up, painting that hideous “by ALL SPAN” – covered chipboard shed. I’m thinking of using a whole lot of colours – a different combo for each wall – so that it might provide some interesting backdrops for photos or something. Wish me luck!

Tags: backyard, cabana, cover, deck, fabric, festive, outdoor, retractable, retreat, solar, umbrella, Velcro

This entry was posted on Tuesday, July 19th, 2011 at 7:42 pm and is filed under Crafty, DIY. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.