July Renovation - Deck and Patio

My renovation this month is going to be my deck and the patio directly under it.

The side of the house that faces the Cumberland River is two stories because of the slope of the land. Off of my living room there is a deck and below that a concrete patio. This will be my focus for this month’s renovation. Most of the work will go into the patio area since I have plans to completely rebuild the deck to enlarge it. But the patio area will be unaffected by this so I can do permanent work on it.

I want it to have a Pacific Northwest feel. Cedar. Salmon. Button blankets. Evergreens. Driftwood. Haida and Tlingit art. Ocean smoothed stones.

I won't be doing anything structurally with the deck, as we plan on enlarging it in the future. But I want it to look as nice as possible until then.

Each window frame is a different shade of brown. SIGH!! So I'll be doing some painting to get everything the same color.

And the color has to go (if it’s not a major issue to do). I hate it!! Plus, when the sellers were "fixing" the deck for putting on the market they replaced rotted deck boards with untreated pine 2x4s. So when it got hot... huge amounts of super sticky pine sap came to the surface. For now, I have the rugs over the areas. I'm trying to figure out how, or if it is even possible, to cover those areas so it doesn't come thru the new paint.

I love my furniture set but it needs some dressing up. I like the metal color but not the cushions. Too bland. The tables need something too.

My grill area needs work. I want to build a surround for it. Dad is going to come down to help.

The patio is going to be a bigger project as the deck enlargement won't affect it.

First the nasty concrete has to be power-washed and stained.

I want to make some sort of surround for these ugly poles. Still trying to decide on that one. Do I do a simple boxed out surround or something that I can put a stone façade on the lower portion? Either way, I'd like a low rail between the columns.

If I could figure out a way -- on the cheap -- to cover the bottom of the deck so rain doesn't come thru, I would be a happy camper! It has to be something that seeds and junk can wash out of. The shape makes it hard to come up with an idea. Any suggestions?

The chairs are perfectly good but I don't like the color anymore. Easy enough to redo the metal, but what about the seats? Has anyone ever dyed the nylon patio chairs with success? The chaise are perfect, so I won't be doing a thing to them except clean-up. And I have a few pieces (like the baker’s rack you can just see in the back left) that I am going to makeover.