You might recall this post from back in April regarding plans we were putting in place for a backyard pool deck makeover. As I mentioned then, the original deck over the years had become faded and chipped, in some places down to the original concrete:

We contracted with a company called Allied Outdoor Solutions, who produce a product called Carvestone, a layered synthetic material that, once the original surface is prepared and roughed up, is applied, hand-textured, and colored to whatever design you are looking for.

When the sales guy came over and had us look at their samples, all we knew is that we didn’t want something traditional and boring with a lot of browns and grays like so many others have around their patios and pool decks around here. Tracey wanted colorful – and I mean really colorful, whereas I was willing to pretty much go along with any design as long as it wasn’t boring. As it turns out, regardless of what the Allied Solutions folks claim (and to Tracey’s chagrin) you really don’t have any truly bold colors to choose from – just a lot of muted pastels – but I think that’s just the nature of the product involved. Still it would have been nice had they been right up-front about it at the beginning.

After looking at sample materials, we decided to go with a yellow base with a combination of rust, blue, and gray in the mix. After we reviewed samples they made on a board (rejecting one for being too bland) pink grout was chosen to kind of draw in our existing Caribbean/Key West-inspired back patio. We didn’t really know what to expect, but I think it ended up coming out pretty well, dontcha think?

When I first had a look at it I was surprised to see just how mid-century modern / art deco it looked in a kind of Palm Springs-kinda way. Add an occasional splash of robin’s egg blue, and, why, one could almost imagine the likes of Bob Hope, Bing Crosby, and Frank Sinatra tossing back martinis and manhattans around the pool, circa 1958.

The next step is to replace the existing tiled patio with the same material and pattern. The deck itself needs a couple of weeks to “cure” before we add back the patio furniture, so it’s just as well that I’m heading back to Massachusetts for ten days. After that, we’ll be putting in a small wood-burning fire pit in preparation for the fall. And after that the backyard should be complete once and for all!