It's Summertime & The Livins' Easy....

Well that's a bit of a stretch, wishful thinking maybe? It is Spring time though and Steve and I have a lot on our plates with the exterior of the house this year. First things first, building a deck. I find it hard to believe that this house didn't already have a deck, but they spent the money on a humongous front porch, so it's alright. We want to get it done nice and early in the season so that we can have lots of time to enjoy it. Plus, without a deck in the back, it is hard to really spend time back there. There isn't really anywhere for the babies to crawl around (since the yard is still a bit muddy) and there aren't any chairs or places to sit. So instead we spend most of our time in the front. Seeing as we have a nice playset and clubhouse for the kiddos, we want to be able to fully maximize our time in the back!

So this week we are ordering our decking and I just can't decide between two. Let me talk you through it a bit and then you can help me pick.

Here is our house now. Front and part of the back. It is a light cream color.

 

The deck will be two levels. The first level, with the railing, will go from the edge of the sliding door, to the bump out of the family room. The lower, ground level deck, will span the entire length of the family room.



(this photo was from the previous owners)



Our plans for the house include re-siding it next year and painting all the trim and shutters this year (hopefully). This is the color scheme we are going with.

An olive-ish, gray-green with nice bright white trim. That trim is slightly beige, ours will be white. I haven't decided 100% on shutters yet.

So the trouble is, picking a decking that will look alright with the cream we have now, but ultimately look best with the new colors coming in the future.

Here are our two choices. Sage & mahogany. The sage is more like a slight greenish tan. We will be going with a white railing, no matter the decking choice. We are using CorrectDeck composite decking.

This photo makes it look a smidge more tan than it is.

Sorry the photos aren't GREAT, but I wanted to make sure to use photos of the actual product, so there wasn't much of a selection.

Here are my thoughts. The green/lighter color will not get as hot, but it will also show dirt and scuff marks. The mahogany/dark color will get scorching hot, won't show mud, but will show dust and dry dirt.

Unlike the photos, our railing will be solid white, identical to this one.

So, with this color scheme, which decking do you think would be better, sage or mahogany??

The more I talk about it, the more I am thinking the mahogany...