After building the deck for the Hillside Victorian, I wasn’t sure how to finish it. I thought it should match the hot tub, but didn’t want too much brown to detract from the color scheme of the rest of the house (especially since there’s no brown or stained wood anywhere else). So, I turned to the internet for inspiration.
I really like how the flagstone foundation turned out, and wondered if there was a way to continue that for the deck. Initially I was thinking I would paint the deck gray (using one of the stone colors) and add lattice underneath it. I’m not sure anymore what search terms I used, but a Google image search along these lines turned up this image:
I’m not sure what makes a deck a deck, and a porch a porch, but who cares? After seeing this picture, I really liked the idea of extending the flagstone foundation around the base of the deck. I decided to paint the deck white, which is the trim color and also the color of the front stairs and other deck-like areas on the front of the house.
When assembling the deck, I left a gap between boards as advised by the instructions. I tried filling these with paint but the gaps were too big (as you can see at the top of the picture above). So I filled the gaps with wood filler (you can see the first several filled rows at the bottom of the photo).
When the wood filler dried, I sanded the deck (porch?), then painted with a second coat of white.
Next, I cut some balsa to (roughly) fit inside the holes on each side of the deck.
I masked off the white parts of the porch (deck?) and painted the foundation pieces gray.
Then I applied scraps of egg carton, just like with the foundation.
Under the hot tub, I only did as much as you can see. Initially I planned to do the whole surface but I got lazy…
Here are the stones after applying several different colors (brown, gray, lavender, etc.) with a dry brush.
And here they are after applying matte varnish. (They’re still wet in this photo, so they won’t be quite that shiny in the end.)
I’m still planning to add a step leading down from the French door, and a railing to each side of the deck. Wouldn’t want to violate building code…
I’m undecided about the side of the stairs. My original plan was to end a piece of trim to separate the abrupt end of the flagstones from the white stairs. But now that I see this, I’m wondering if I should continue the stones all the way to the front. And if I do, then should I also have flagstone risers, like in the inspiration picture…?
I’m also not 100% sure that white is the right color for this deck. It goes with the color scheme, but it’s an awful lot of white all in one place. I could paint it the same color as the house, but that might look weird next to the blue interior of the hot tub. And I don’t really want to introduce another color. Any opinions from the peanut gallery?
Emily is a freelance writer, miniaturist, and adventure game enthusiast.
Real decks aren’t painted white, unless they have a cleaning crew assigned to them, because they get dirty too fast. A gray like the example photo would work, except it might blend into the foundation too well. I’m wondering what a mossy green would look like.
A reddish-brown to look like redwood or mahogany would be a traditional color for a deck.
And I think the stone foundation should continue around the steps including the bottom riser. The second and third risers could be either stone or painted white
On second thought the upper risers would have to be stone to meet the stone at the side of the steps.
Thanks for the suggestions. I know in the “real world” the deck should be a darker wood color, but I don’t want it to be overpowering (and who said dollhouses have to be realistic?!) The stones in the foundation have a bunch of different colors in them – two shades of gray, a grayish purple, a mossy green – maybe I will try those and see if any look good.
I know I’m commenting years after you did this, but I’m just catching up ;). I’d go for a lightish grey, which would complement the colours in the stonework and go well with the house colour.
By the way I was curious about the official difference between a porch and a deck after you posed the question too, and looking here http://www.wisegeek.com/what-is-the-difference-between-a-deck-and-a-porch.htm confirmed my feeling that a porch is a covered or uncovered space at the front of the house where people are welcomed at the front door. A deck is more of a living space for entertainment. If it is roofed over and surrounding the house it would be more what we in Australia call a verandah.