Paint the Scene

Bring your yard's riot of color onto the deck with a fun and funky painted rug.

 

Rev up your deck with an outdoor
rug that's stained right onto the
floorboards.

• Deck-washing solution
• T-square
• Triangle or right angle tool
• Yardstick
• Colored pencils
• Eight shades of outdoor deck stain (water- or oil-base), about 1 quart of each color
• Tapered 2-inch paintbrush
• Deck sealer (optional)

1. Scrub the boards with a deck wash, following manufacturer's instructions. Let the deck dry for a few days before applying stain.

2. Determine the rug size. (Hint: Test the dimensions by cutting a paper drop cloth or folding up an old sheet.) Angle the rug slightly for an offbeat look. Once you've settled on the rug's size and skew, map out the design in a small sketch. Our design features 6 x 18-inch rectangles stacked to form six 18 x 18-inch squares for a quilt effect.

3. Using colored pencils, a T-square, a triangle, and a yardstick, draw your design onto the deck. Grab a friend to hold one end of the ruler to help keep the lines straight.

4. Once the design is drawn onto the deck, it's time to fill in the colors. We chose eight opaque latex deck stains and painted them on with a basic tapered 2-inch brush. Because tape will not easily adhere to a deck's wood surface, you will not be able to block off your design. Instead, stain each color block separately, letting the block dry before painting the next square. The stain will not seep into the other colors, so it's best to follow the pencil outline with your brush. Paint the border last. The stain should dry in 30 minutes.

5. Seal the deck. When it comes to sealing a deck, the rules vary by climate. Check with a paint store about how to preserve a painted surface in your region. Or let the color wear naturally. Once the stain dries, bring out your favorite furniture and take in your new living room in the great outdoors.