Choosing The Right Stain For Your Deck

This year we had to stain our deck.

We didn't bother last summer and once spring rolled around it was evident that our deck was in much need of some TLC in the form of stain & paint.

We had stain left over, a whole gallon. But when my husband went to the hardware store to 
pick upmore stain they told him that oil based stains will no longer be sold in Canada starting in September.

So home he came without any stain.

And we wondered what we were going to do. Should we buy oil based stain anyways and deal with it next year (or the year after)? How would water based stain adhere to the remaining stain on our deck? How can we get the remaining stain off of the deck?

A couple of weeks went by and finally we both went back to the hardware store and purchased deck stain stripper and a pressure washer...and we were dreading all the pre-stain work ahead of us.

Then the in-laws visited and my Father in-law, 
who happens to work at a  hardware store told us about

Sico Exterior Stains.

It's a water based stain that can go right over your existing stained surface. So your wondering why I didn't think to ask him since he works at a hardware store?

Well, that's just it - It never crossed my mind to ask him.

So anyways we returned the stain stripper & pressure washer and bought the Sico stain.

But wait...I had a brilliant idea! I thought that it would 
be a great time to change the color of 
our deck, I was thinking of going with something
in the blue color family.

But as it turns out, it was a horrible idea. 
An epic fail.

So all that work for nothing.

Back to the all to familiar brown.

A safe color but lovely just the same.

We choose Polar Night.

The railings are painted with a color match, 

we brought in a piece of our cream trim to the 

hardware store so they could color match it for us.

Pretty darn close!

I love how clean and fresh it looks now.

See the yellow bench on the right?

My hubs and I made it out of a headboard and footboard.

Check it out here

Here are couple of night time shots.

Take your time when choosing stain.

Make sure the color you choose will coordinate

with existing colors you have and your

outdoor furniture & flower pots.

Here's a Chip It of one of the pics.

I have been known to link to these fantastic parties:  

Kampen Lane Designs Motivate Me Monday The Cure for the Common Monday A Diamond in the Stuff Just Something I Whipped Up Polly Want a Crafter Sew Can Do Boogieboard Cottage DIY Home Sweet Home Brassy Apple Polish the Stars Serendipity and Spice Destination Craft Mrs Happy Homemaker Made for You Monday Make it Yourself Monday Ask Anna C.R.A.F.T. The Southern Institute The DIY Showoff Craftomaniac  Raising 4 Princesses BetweenNaps on the Porch Bedazzle Me Monday The Life of a Not So Ordinary Wife Make Something Monday Stringtown Home Organizing Home Life Tuesday Tutorials Giggles Glitz and Glam Be Inspired Tuesday Time Out A to Zebra Celebrations My Favorite Finds Eye Heart Our Delightful Home The Inspiration Board Frugal Treasures Tuesday Too Cute Tuesday Sugar and Dots Topsy Turvy Tuesdays Trick or Treat Tuesday Chef in Training Sugar Bee Crafts Hope Studios Tell it to me Tuesday Your Cozy Home Party Turquoise Lovin’ Tuesday To Do Party Cherished Bliss Anti-Procrastination Tuesdays Type A Adventures of a DIY Mom Show Me What Ya Got Get Your Craft On Nifty Thrifty Tuesday Tuesday Confessional Teagan Travels How to Nest for Less A Bowl Full of Lemons Tuesday Trade Off Tip Junkie T2T Tuesday Tuesday Treasures Ladybug Blessings Creative Itch Toot your Horn Tuesday Jillify It Tutorial Tuesday Pin Cushion Creations Embracing Change Junk in their Trunk Polkadots on Parade Laugh Love and Craft Rock N Share Clean & Scentsible Uncommonly Yours The Trendy Treehouse Beyond the Picket Fence School House Scraps The Thrifty Home Sew Woodsy Savvy Southern Style Your Whims Wednesday Wow me Wednesday A Little Tipsy Women Living Well Primp your Stuff Wednesday Show and Share Mrs. Fox’s Sweet Party Whatever goes Wednesday 36th Avenue Live.Laugh.Rowe Adventures in Dinner Easy Digital Scrapbooking Mom on Timeout The CSI Project Share Your Cup Thursday All About a Bloom   Fabulously Flawed It’s Sew Stinking Cute The Shabby Creek Cottage The Crafty Blog Stalker Christina’s Adventures Crafty Scrappy Happy 52 Mantels Bear Rabbit Bear The Vintage Farmhouse Bloom Designs A Turtles Life for Me  The Taylor House Rhinestone Beagle Schoolhouse Scraps The Brambleberry Cottage The Shabby Nest Tidy Mom Joyful Stamper My Simple Home Life Remodelaholic Delicate Construction Happy Hour Projects Chic on a Shoestring Decorating 504 Main Hating Martha The Creative Paige Here Comes the Sun Cookie Nut Creations Bacon Time Joy in the Jumble The Grant Life Dotted Line Crafts Love Notes by Lauren Raising Oranges Making Lemonade Redoux Interiors Sassy Sites Whipperberry Tidy Mom One Artsy Momma My Romantic Home Petals to Picots Pandoras Craft Box My Repurposed Life French Country Cottage At the Picket Fence Just Us Four Mommas Kinda Crafty Craftionary Kitchen Fun With My 3 Sons Sweet Tooth Friday 30 Handmade Days Lovely Crafty Home Mama Mias Heart to Heart Homemaker in Heels Family Ever After Lolly Jane Lady Bird Lane Serenity You The Gingerbread Blog Cherished Treasures Re-made Just Right Under the Table & Dreaming The Sweet talk Shop Sassafrass Salvation Simple as That My 1929 Charmer Heatherly Loves The Sasse Life Joy 2 Journey The Foley Fam Petite Hermine Flamingo Toes The Sweet Detail Sew Many Ways

House Number Sign

When we built our house I knew I wanted a 

cute sign at the end of our driveway with 

our house number and a flower box on it.

I even drove around to look at other homes 

to see if they had something similar so I 

could show my husband what I had in 

mind and give him some idea to work with.

Well he started sketching and came up 

with this beauty, it has become one of 

the favorite things in my garden.

I love to change up the flowers in 

the flower box every year but I

especially love the flowers I've chosen

this year. They have grown tremendously

since I planted them last month.

I stained the posts a deep brown to match 

our deck and painted the backboard for 

the number & the flower  box a cream color 

to match the railing of our deck.

We added a solar light to shine down on the 

house number once it becomes dark outside.

Here are some other flowers from my garden.

 

I have been known to link to these fantastic parties:  
Kampen Lane Designs Motivate Me Monday The Cure for the Common Monday A Diamond in the Stuff Just Something I Whipped Up Polly Want a Crafter Sew Can Do Boogieboard Cottage DIY Home Sweet Home Brassy Apple Polish the Stars Serendipity and Spice Destination Craft Mrs Happy Homemaker Made for You Monday Make it Yourself Monday Ask Anna C.R.A.F.T. The Southern Institute The DIY Showoff Craftomaniac  Raising 4 Princesses BetweenNaps on the Porch Bedazzle Me Monday The Life of a Not So Ordinary Wife Make Something Monday Stringtown Home Organizing Home Life Tuesday Tutorials Giggles Glitz and Glam Be Inspired Tuesday Time Out A to Zebra Celebrations My Favorite Finds Eye Heart Our Delightful Home The Inspiration Board Frugal Treasures Tuesday Too Cute Tuesday Sugar and Dots Topsy Turvy Tuesdays Trick or Treat Tuesday Chef in Training Sugar Bee Crafts Hope Studios Tell it to me Tuesday Your Cozy Home Party Turquoise Lovin’ Tuesday To Do Party Cherished Bliss Anti-Procrastination Tuesdays Type A Adventures of a DIY Mom Show Me What Ya Got Get Your Craft On Nifty Thrifty Tuesday Tuesday Confessional Teagan Travels How to Nest for Less A Bowl Full of Lemons Tuesday Trade Off Tip Junkie T2T Tuesday Tuesday Treasures Ladybug Blessings Creative Itch Toot your Horn Tuesday Jillify It Tutorial Tuesday Pin Cushion Creations Embracing Change Junk in their Trunk Polkadots on Parade Laugh Love and Craft Rock N Share Clean & Scentsible Uncommonly Yours The Trendy Treehouse Beyond the Picket Fence School House Scraps The Thrifty Home Sew Woodsy Savvy Southern Style Your Whims Wednesday Wow me Wednesday A Little Tipsy Women Living Well Primp your Stuff Wednesday Show and Share Mrs. Fox’s Sweet Party Whatever goes Wednesday 36th Avenue Live.Laugh.Rowe Adventures in Dinner Easy Digital Scrapbooking Mom on Timeout The CSI Project Share Your Cup Thursday All About a Bloom   Fabulously Flawed It’s Sew Stinking Cute The Shabby Creek Cottage The Crafty Blog Stalker Christina’s Adventures Crafty Scrappy Happy 52 Mantels Bear Rabbit Bear The Vintage Farmhouse Bloom Designs A Turtles Life for Me  The Taylor House Rhinestone Beagle Schoolhouse Scraps The Brambleberry Cottage The Shabby Nest Tidy Mom Joyful Stamper My Simple Home Life Remodelaholic Delicate Construction Happy Hour Projects Chic on a Shoestring Decorating 504 Main Hating Martha The Creative Paige Here Comes the Sun Cookie Nut Creations Bacon Time Joy in the Jumble The Grant Life Dotted Line Crafts Love Notes by Lauren Raising Oranges Making Lemonade Redoux Interiors Sassy Sites Whipperberry Tidy Mom One Artsy Momma My Romantic Home Petals to Picots Pandoras Craft Box My Repurposed Life French Country Cottage At the Picket Fence Just Us Four Mommas Kinda Crafty Craftionary Kitchen Fun With My 3 Sons Sweet Tooth Friday 30 Handmade Days Lovely Crafty Home Mama Mias Heart to Heart Homemaker in Heels Family Ever After Lolly Jane Lady Bird Lane Serenity You The Gingerbread Blog Cherished Treasures Re-made Just Right Under the Table & Dreaming The Sweet talk Shop Sassafrass Salvation Simple as That My 1929 Charmer Heatherly Loves The Sasse Life Joy 2 Journey The Foley Fam Petite Hermine Flamingo Toes The Sweet Detail Sew Many Ways