My Favorite Space: A Beautiful Courtyard Deck by Making It in the Mountains

A Beautiful Courtyard Deck | Making It in the Mountains for Just a Girl and Her Blog

Hey there, friends! My family and I are on vacation this week, but I’m so excited to have Kristi here from Making It in the Mountains to continue the My Favorite Space series while we’re away! Her courtyard deck is a real stunner– I know you’ll love it! Here’s Kristi!


 

Good morning!!! I’m Kristi, the gal behind Making it in the Mountains where I blog about our journey to transform our first fixer-upper. I’m SO happy to be here today sharing my very favorite space with you!

Having moved into our new (to us) home just a few short months ago, we haven’t had the chance to take on much more than this Rustic Boy Bedroom we created for our not so little guy. So, rather than tour you through an outdated room that we haven’t even bothered to decorate yet, I thought I’d walk you through the space I’m missing most in the lovely mountain home we left behind when we moved (hence the name Making it in the Mountains).

Outdoor Makeover Reveal :: making it in the mountainsNestled between our dining room and living room with stunning views of the mountains, this Courtyard Deck was our absolute favorite place to hang out!

Outdoor Makeover Challenge - Final Reveal @ making it in the mountains
What is the main function of the space?

Without a finished yard space, we needed this courtyard deck to provide us with a place to eat, entertain, relax, lounge and play. Wanting to take full advantage of our short summers here in Canada, this space needed to be a place that we could spend all of our time (when we weren’t out hiking or biking that is).

Outdoor Makeover Challenge - Final Reveal @ making it in the mountains
Can you tell us about some of the fun DIY elements in the space?

This outdoor space is filled to the brim with DIY projects!

We started with this gorgeous DIY Pottery Barn Inspired Table, which quickly became the focal point of the entire space.

Outdoor Makeover Challenge - Final Reveal @ making it in the mountains
Although I’d fallen head-over-heels in love with the original Pottery Barn version, I just couldn’t justify spending $2700 on something that would sit covered in snow for most of the year, so hubs and I decided to make our own version instead. For less than $150, we built this custom DIY table and we couldn’t be happier with how it turned out!

I had SO much fun setting this beautiful table with all sorts of colourful accessories including my DIY Bamboo Charger Plates, which brought a fun pop of colour to our new table top!

Outdoor Makeover Challenge - Final Reveal @ making it in the mountains

Outdoor Makeover Challenge - Final Reveal @ making it in the mountains

DIY Painted Plates @ making it in the mountains
As much as I loved every little detail of the space, the star of the show was definitely this DIY Ladder Shelf!

Outdoor Makeover Challenge - Final Reveal @ making it in the mountains

Outdoor Makeover Challenge - Final Reveal @ making it in the mountains

Outdoor Makeover Challenge - Final Reveal @ making it in the mountains
How would you describe your design style, and which elements in the room help bring that to life?

Normally I tend to shy away from bright colours – though I’ve always had a thing for aqua, I can never quite bring myself to commit to using it inside my own home. This outside space, however, was the PERFECT chance to play around with a ton of colour and I couldn’t possibly be more in love with how it all came together!

These pillows were actually the jumping off point for my colour scheme. I fell in love with the blues, grey and mint and thought it would be super easy to match them with all sorts of different decor pieces!

Outdoor Makeover Challenge - Final Reveal @ making it in the mountains

I found this beautiful table runner and the matching napkins next and things just sort of evolved from there…

Outdoor Makeover Challenge - Final Reveal @ making it in the mountains

Outdoor Makeover Challenge - Final Reveal @ making it in the mountains

Outdoor Makeover Challenge - Final Reveal @ making it in the mountains

Outdoor Makeover Challenge - Final Reveal @ making it in the mountains
Outdoor Makeover Challenge - Final Reveal @ making it in the mountains

Outdoor Makeover Challenge - Final Reveal @ making it in the mountains

Outdoor Makeover Challenge - Final Reveal @ making it in the mountains
Do you have any funny/happy/sweet/interesting stories about this space?

Not necessarily the space itself, but finding the right chairs for the ends of that table proved to be a seemingly endless task. I had no trouble finding options that I LOVED, my issue was always with the price tag. Honestly, I hunted for months, but couldn’t for the life of me, find anything I loved for a price that I was willing to pay.

That is, until we were trapped in Calgary with a flat tire that turned out to be a blessing in disguise – I’ll admit, I may have been a tad grumpy about having to wait around for a few hours to get everything all fixed up, particularly because of the 7 hours of driving we still had to make it through that day, but when Hubs mentioned an IKEA close by, it was like the clouds parted and I was instantly in MUCH better spirits! I mean, who doesn’t love a trip to IKEA? Made even more special of course by the fact that it has literally been years since I’ve had the chance to step through those glorious blue doors (thanks to small town living)!

Anyway, the chairs … I’m sure it’s obvious to you by now from my ramblings that I found the perfect ones at IKEA that morning – they were the very first things that we saw when we walked in and they were absolutely perfect!

Outdoor Makeover Challenge - Final Reveal @ making it in the mountains

Outdoor Makeover Challenge - Final Reveal @ making it in the mountains
What is it about the space that makes it your favorite?

Without a doubt, my favorite thing about this space is that view! What could be better than sitting outside at the end of a long day, sipping some wine and looking out at this?!

Outdoor Makeover Challenge - Final Reveal @ making it in the mountains

Outdoor Makeover Challenge - Final Reveal @ making it in the mountains

Outdoor Makeover Challenge - Final Reveal @ making it in the mountains
Huge thanks to Abby for inviting my to share my favorite space!

As I mentioned earlier, we may have left this beautiful space behind, but we’re so excited to be embarking on a new adventure updating this 1970’s home! I would love for you to subscribe to our newsletter so you don’t miss a thing and, to say thanks, you’ll receive this lovely set of desktop calendars delivered right to your inbox!

Free Wallpaper Calendars

And, be sure to like us on Instagram or Facebook for all sorts of sneak peeks!

Wishing you SUCH a lovely day!


What a gorgeous place to hang out, right?! Can’t beat that view! Thank you so much to Kristi for sharing her favorite space with us, and thank YOU for reading! Have a wonderful day!

Delightful Sign Off

 

6 Comments

  1. Hi, Kristi! That is wonderful that you are guest posting today! Your space is so beautiful with all the beautiful shades of blue!

  2. Ann @ The Clumsy Wife says:

    Kristi, your deck is BEAUTIFUL!! I love all the blues 🙂 And you can’t beat that view, jealous!!

  3. Lovely guest post Kristi!! I still love your outdoor space : ) One day I will transform mine too…. one day, lol.

  4. Michelle@DandelionPatina says:

    Lovely guest post Kristi! How fun is your outdoor living space! It made me smile that your inspirational starting point was the table runner and napkins. Everything coordinates so well…and you have some of my much loved aqua in there! Nice job.

  5. Kendra @ www.joyinourhome.com says:

    One of my favorite patios ever, Kristi! From the view, to the gorgeous table to the décor! Excited to follow along with you as you tackle this home now… I know you’ll do amazing things! xo

  6. Cindy Keller @ MyGardenGifts says:

    Hi Kristi, your outdoor space looks so warm and collected with all the aqua colored accessories! I like the way you coordinated the accessories with the cushion and the chair to match! And I am so impressed you did that table too! It looks super strong! And the view….that is truly breathless…It really looks like a nice place to gather and simply enjoy the scenery. Thanks for sharing!.

Comments are closed.