A few years ago we added a pergola to one of our decked areas. The idea was to visually anchor the deck as previously I had always felt like I was sitting on a stage due to the expanse of lawn. At the same time we added gardens to the left and right of the stairs and planted matching flowering Cherry trees in both to help provide some shade in the summer without losing light in the winter.
The pergola is simply that; we did not roof it though we did toy with the idea of louvres, (until ‘he who likes to save money’ priced them), so a shade sail in the summer months is more to his liking!
The pergola was made from very chunky Macrocarpa timber which matches a huge truss on the front of the house. We left it au natural until last weekend when ‘he’ decided it was time to stain it – and really with the Rugby world cup what better time to go ALL BLACK?!
The pine balustrade on both decks is soon to be replaced with a frameless glass one, so as to make the view more visible while seated.
The white shutters were added to the upstairs bedrooms and mezzanine floor to help reduce the heat from the sun in the summer months. I love their striking contrast to the black exterior.
We got rid of our bulky 8 seater dining table and chairs in favour of this more relaxed set (that reminds me of one of my favourite chair designs by Jens Risom.
The chandelier hangs weathered and rusty, I love the quirkiness it brings to the area.
So here we are, the Clematis still has a way to go, the wires we threaded across the trusses sit waiting in anticipation for the vines to head their way, they will get there of course, “all in good time” they whisper while I sit beneath with my chilled pinot gris!
Handy Hint; When using black or dark colours on your exterior always use Resene Cool Colours to help deflect some of the suns heat and see some more beautiful black homes here
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