A couple months ago we added a huge deck to the back of our house. Our first thought was actually to put a large stamped concrete patio like our last home, but with the slope of our yard and the number of steps we’d need to the patio, we just opted for a deck instead.
Ben and I chose a cedar deck with aluminum spindles. We toyed around with the idea of composite but the cost kind of ruled that option out. Also we heard composite can get extremely hot during the summer so that’s also an excuse I’m using 🙂
So we’ve been putting off staining the deck for a couple months but this past week it was finally time to seal the wood and give it some color.
I wanted something in the brown family but not too opaque… I love seeing the wood grain. We finally landed on Chocolate in Semi-Transparent stain from Behr.
And here’s the chocolately goodness in action…
You can see some patio furniture in our backyard ready to find a new home on our back deck. We just need to let it dry completely and lose some tackiness (hard to do in this non-stop heat wave). Um… do you see our yellow grass? Let’s not comment on that right now.
So we have the deck furniture but now need to add some color. I’m thinking some beautiful outdoor pillows and planters. I don’t mind taking my time with this since it’s too hot outside to enjoy this deck right now. Maybe if I wait a month or so I can find some décor on clearance this time of year!
Bryn says
That turned out so nice! I don’t know how you did it though…I nearly had a panic attack picking stain for the STEPS down to my patio. I was so nervous bc once you do it…can’t really change unless you go darker. Nice work guys
Jenny says
It looks nice! You are right, this heat is insane! It’s supposed to be nicer this weekend, but we’ll have storms it looks like.
About the grass, I was just reading something about using Epsom salt to make grass green. I forgot the amount needed, but google it. Supposedly, it has great results.
Cecilia says
I love the color! Such chocolatety prettiness! Hope your weather gets a little cooler for you.
sherry says
This is beautiful! I wish I had seen this before I stained my deck.
Vanessa D. says
I think it was this post that got me to finally take the plunge and stain my own deck. I had been debating it for a while, but seeing the nice clean look of your stained deck gave me a push to go for it.
howtonestforless says
Good luck to you!
Nikki Gwin says
I am needing to stain my deck and I love this color! Thanks for sharing.
🙂 gwingal
Michelle - Jarrah Jungle says
Wow your deck looks amazing! I love that you chose real wood and the stain colour is beautiful just like chocolate! We are just at the planning stage of building a deck at our house I hope ours will look as good as yours 🙂
Dee says
I love how this turned out! Thanks for sharing at Merry Monday! 🙂
Jemma says
The stain color you chose and the finished look is just perfect with your paint color and style of home
I love it!
Thank you for sharing this project with us at TOHOT!
Jemma
Colleen says
This is a winner! The combination of your photography skills and stain color have convinced me that this chocolate is the color for our back fence. Our faded grey/brown needs some serious attention. This chocolate will make our pool water really pop. Such a rich color. Thank you for always doing such a wonderful job of sharing.
howtonestforless says
You’re welcome. Glad it helped!
Scott says
Really like the look of your deck colour. I’m currently considering the same stain.
I’m curious how well the Behr deck stain has held up since you applied it a few years ago?
Anutza says
I am also curious how it has held up, as I notice on the can it is not the oil-based version, and I have readh that the water-based one flakes and peels.
Toni says
After seeing this post we bought the same stain color for our deck. How did you apply the stain, paint brush, sprayer or did you run it on with cloth?