Ta da!

My honey has been working very hard lately. He took some time off his day job to get a project finished around the house. That project was a deck makeover. We have a huge deck -- not the deck we would have built had we built it, but it's what we have. Before the makeover, the rail was in terrible shape. Some of the balusters were loose, but a few of the posts had actually been partially consumed by bugs (lovely!). Many of the deck boards were rotted, also. Unfortunately for us, the deck was originally built out of cedar, which has not weathered well in our shady, northern exposure back yard.

But, thanks to my handy honey, I have a new (almost) deck. We designed the rails to use this product, an aluminum baluster system. I was told by "the handyman" that these are way easier than wooden balusters. And we really like how they disappear into the trees. When we first moved to this house, there was a deck rail on the top deck as well as the bottom deck. Last year we tore down the top rail and put in the deck-wide steps. Now, when we sit in the family room, we don't feel like we're inside of a playpen. The new rail really lets the trees come in.

I love my new deck and am happy to have such a handy guy!