Project Done!

It's done! I have a few odds and ends to do yet, but for all intents and purposes I’ve finished building the benches and potting table on my front porch. I still have to paint the benches and table, and clean the deck and then paint it too. But I finished inserting the last screw at 7:30 last night, 4/24. Lord knows when I'll get around to painting them all. That's for another day! I had a blast building this stuff, and now my deck looks so cool.

The long photo above is a composite picture I did in Photoshop, stitching together 6 photos, so the perspective is a bit off. It makes the bench on the right and the table on the left look considerably longer than they really are. The picture was taken from the gate leading onto the porch from the driveway. It makes my deck look huge, but it does give a decent panorama, if somewhat distorted. And yes, the wall and door really are purple. Here's a better picture, without distortion:

The long beam across the top of the benches will be used for hanging plants. The table on the left with the small bench on the end will be used for potting plants and for potluck dishes during barbecues (Think July 4th!). It will also come in very handy when lugging groceries from the car. Instead of leaving the slider open to the elements while I troop back and forth carting grocery bags, I'll be able to deposit all the groceries on the table, first, then once the car is emptied, I'll whisk the bags inside in one fell swoop.

The next picture is actually 2 photos stitched together. You can tell because the deck planks don’t line up. However, the benches are in proportion in this picture. I think it will look really nice once I get it all painted and have flower pots hanging from the beam.

I’ll probably build a gate to go between the two benches, and install handrails for the steps leading down into the side yard. But that's for a later date. Right now, I'm dreading picking colors to paint the deck and benches and table, because it will be one of those exploding projects. To backtrack, I have a new roof that clashes horribly with my house color. When I picked the roof color, I thought it would go well with my taupe house. I was appalled when the roof was done. It's reddish brown, and clashes horribly with the taupe. So I have to repaint the house. It needs it, anyway. But trying to decide on a color is so trying, and I can't paint the deck and benches until I decide on my color scheme for the house. Then I'll be able to find complementary colors for the deck, etc. And then (groan!) I'll have to repaint the cinder block wall and my intricately painted door, because purples will most certainly not go well with anything in the reddish-brown family.