Our Colourful Cottage Deck Design in Muskoka - Before and After

Jul. 2

Can you believe it’s July?

We’re going to embrace Summer living on the blog this month, and I thought we should kick it off with the deck design at our very own cozy cottage, Waratah Retreat. Here’s the front of our place when we first saw it, we have big painting plans but zero time so it happily continues with this more rustic exterior colour for now.

If you missed my last post featuring our living room before and afters, click over here.

Here’s the deck as it was. Perfect for that single guy, what a waste.

Of course, what our deck really needed was a colourful spot to sit and take in the beautiful surrounds and birdsong.

Ikea had just released it’s Brusen red steel bench, which was more than I would probably spend at home for an outdoor bench but it felt justified here. Also, it was in stock, a pandemic miracle!

The whole deck design came together around that gorgeous pop of red.

Our guests, and our family, spend an enormous amount of time out on the deck so comfort was a priority.

We have a eucalyptus dining table, BBQ, huge umbrellas that pop with their black and white stripes, and we even use an outdoor heater out there when the evenings start to chill to continue the outdoor time Spring to late Fall. The deck is a great size, can you believe the previous owner hardly used it?

Sitting on the deck in the dark, the stars are so clear and bright. I feel like getting in the car right now and heading back up there! If you’d like to book a stay, here’s the link.

You can also head over to the Waratah Retreat Instagram page for many more images of our beloved cottage.

In my next post, I’ll break down the deck design and share links so you can shop the look. For now, just picture yourself there with your beverage of choice, a variety of birds dining at the feeders and an Aussie magazine to peruse while you relax.

Heaven, right?