Living Lark

Here are pics of the plants at the end of the summer. They all survived on our shady deck.

Here’s the other side of our deck which I didn’t reveal in Deck Planting: Phase 2 Results.

The Bare Brick Wall & Clutter Corner

This bare brick wall is looking bleak. In the left corner is a gas grill, great for small spaces. It’s all stainless steel with a round dome lid and pedestal-like stand. It’s an adorable, not-so-manly grill. It has wheels and can easily be moved from corner to corner. Notice another narrow terracotta pot on the window seal that needs some ferns. Also, notice that tiny green speck. That’s a Crate & Barrel citronella candle on the window seal. Historical tangent: Behind that ivory metal sheet is a wooden door/nook that was once used for milk delivery in the 20′s. When the building was refurbished, the contractors covered it.

Wall Decor Ideas

Wall Plaque Options: Would love to put up an iron wall plaque. Something like one of these that I pinned on Pinterest. I’m partial to these two interlocking circle plaque designs.

Image From PotteryBarn.com

Image from AtWestEnd.com

Wall Tile Option: Surprisingly received a package in mail this past week from my mom (for my summer, half-birthday). Side note: since my birthday is nearly on Christmas day, my mom has always celebrated my half birthday and still does even though I’m all grown-up. Crazy, huh? What was in the half-birthday present package? It was a set of 4 terracotta bird tiles. These would look nice on that empty brick wall. I love anything bird-silhouette.

Image from Crate & Barrel

During our trip to the nursery, we had high hopes to find the perfect plants and flowers for a shaded deck. With the help from a garden nursery expert, we confidently loaded our cart full of shade-friendly candidates. After our final selection, we were eager to spruce up our drab and empty deck.

We set out our inventory of flowers and plants and retrieved garden tools and supplies from the basement storage unit.

We drilled a few holes in some terra cotta pots to ensure proper drainage.

Our dog Scout joined in the deck planting fun too. She loves to trample through our gear in the middle of any project.

Check out Deck Planting, Phase 2 Results for the final after photos.

After we prepped our deck with boxes of plants and gardening tools and supplies, we were ready to get to work and make a deck transformation.

Here are after photos as a result from a leisurely, Memorial-day afternoon of deck planting.

Getting ready to put up hanging basket.

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Coconut Liner Planters Complete! (view from deck stairs above)

View from our living/dining room window.

After retrieving patio table and chairs from storage, we broke out the glass cleaner and cushions. After setting it all up, here’s the final after look.

Here are a few other angles of the after look.

View from stairs above.

Close-up of patio table (purchased on super sale at Pottery Barn end of summer 2006).

Notice the long, narrow terracotta planters on the window seal? Hope to get some ferns to fill in those later in the summer.

We went to Gethsemane in Edgewater with hopes to purchase plants and flowers that would thrive on our shaded deck. It only gets an hour or two of direct sunlight each day due to the position of other caddy-corner corner units. Also, we are in the bottom unit of a 3-flat walk-up.

After wandering aimlessly and leisurely, we finally spotted an available nursery expert. We jumped in and asked,  “Sir, can you help us? We have these two planters and we don’t get any sunshine…” Before we could say anymore, this kind sir took the reins of our empty cart and gave us a 2-cent nursery tour. He grabbed huge flats of this and that. He said, “don’t worry, we won’t use all this…we will play around and arrange it in your coconut liners.” He asked us if we liked this flower or that color. I excitedly proclaimed, “I love ferns!” We grabbed a few fern varieties. We spotted colorful leaf plants with purple veining. We grabbed a few begonias in various colors as well. The kind sir selected a plant with artsy, tall spiked leaves. Our hearts fluttered with “ooh and ahhh” as the cart over-flowed with shade-friendly flower and plant options.

The kind sir mapped out plants for our long narrow coconut liner (to fill our over-the-rail planter). He solicited our input for personal liking. He arranged it all to perfect symmetry.

We arranged a begonia and small plant and fern in our round coconut liner (to fill our hanging basket). We grabbed a few extra plants for to fill terracotta pots. Also grabbed a bag of dirt and a small bag of Spanish moss. Here’s our final cart for checkout.

As the store hours were winding down, we headed to the checkout line. With our plants boxed up to be loaded into our car, we crossed our fingers with hope that our shade-friendly plants last through the Chicago summer. Check out Deck Planting, Phase 1 Prep (next day on Memorial Day).