outdoors

living

9

ean lines and

ern shapes

it even they a

appeal to Angie Packer and

Dan Bishop, but even they admit the old furniture on their

Iowa deck was a tad austere. The two chairs and small

table couldn’t seat their family of four, let alone guests.

Then again, no one wanted to sit on the sun-baked deck

anyway. “It was just too hot,” Angie says.

To claim the space as a usable outdoor room, the

couple blocked out the sun’s glare by attaching a retract-

able shade canopy system to the existing pergola. Beneath the airy

ceiling they used streamlined furniture-arm less chairs and backless

benches—to make room for both a dining area and a lounge zone within

the deck’s 14x17-foot space.

Bright chartreuse-and-turquoise accent pillows, inspired by a pair of

zesty lime chairs, add zip to the deck’s new honey-hue stain. “The space

feels refreshing now,” Angie says. “It invites us to live outside.”

l o o k in g u p

Fabric shade panels

that extend and retract

on a sliding track

system helped turn

this deck into a livable

family retreat.

114

JUNE 2010 BETTER HOMES AND GARDENS