AT reader (and house tour participant) Kathryn has been on fire lately. Her home was just featured on HGTV and, looking through Flickr, we noticed that her outdoor space is also camera-ready after undergoing a recent transformation. Click below for a mini-tour of her beautiful rooftop deck (and one "before" photo)...
From Kathryn: "This large outdoor space was a big part of why I bought this loft. However, using it was harder than I first thought."
"After living with the barren, windy space for a few years, I bought a dining set from a neighbor who was leaving and upgraded to a gas grill (charcoal decks and wind don't mix)."
"This year, I decided to make the area more "liveable". I had fences installed to block some of the wind. I also had large planter boxes built along the front part of the deck."
"I planted "Black Lace Elderberry", "Morning Light Maiden Grass", Speedwell, Phlox, Salvia, Coleus, "Purple Fountain Grass" and a bunch of herbs."
"I plan to stain the fence and the planter boxes a brownish-grey color at the end of the summer; after the wood has had a chance to season for a few months."
Great job, Kathryn, and thanks so much for sharing your space! We love the planters and think they'll look even better as they age. To see the entire Flickr set with the before-and-after transformation, click here.
To share your space with AT:Chicago, tag your Flickr photos with "apartmenttherapychicago."
© 2009 Apartment Therapy
I am about to buy my roof rights and will have around 1200 square footage of decking to work with. I love your ideas! I thought even gas grills were not allowed in New York City Roofs. Anyone know?
view anash's profile
Looks great!
Love the planter boxes and their lighting.
Wind blockage is so important in Chicago! Wind can be just as damaging to plants as over/under watering.
view art's profile
A lot of plants died on this deck in years past because I did not water them adequately.
My neighbor helped me install a drip irrigation system that was far easier and cheaper than I ever imagined. For less than $75 I have a timer set up with sprayers in each section of the planter box (and two seperate containers) that water my plants every other day at 5am.
Forget about those gel crystals etc - this works: http://www.dripirrigation.com/index.php?cPath=22
view Kathryn's profile
I have the same striped cushions. I wonder where she got them.
view matthieu's profile
They were on sale at Cost Plus World Market.
The beige cushions on the dining chairs are from Restoration Hardware. They were a little pricey, but they are made specifically to fit those chairs.
view Kathryn's profile
More coverage of Kathryn's apt? Isn't it about time AT sets up AT:KATHRYN? - lol
xo
view luigilly's profile
Luigi,
Ha ha! You're hilarious :)
Kathryn
view Kathryn's profile
Kathryn,
I love the large planter boxes. Can you share the plans for them? (things I'd like to know are: how did you run the wiring for the lights? did you put a false bottom on the planters to reduce the amount of soil needed??
thanks,
Gwen
view gem's profile
Hi Gwen,
Here's the sketch we started with http://www.flickr.com/photos/kcweiss/2611588748/
The actual design was changed a bit so that the corner boxes on the left side were more rectangular and we added a box on the other side of my chimney (on the right side). The idea was to preserve some space on the end of the deck as well as to make the whole installation seem balanced.
The boxes are insulated with styrofoam as you can see in this photo: http://www.flickr.com/photos/kcweiss/2529564468/in/set-72157604300314814/
There is a false bottom in the planters - I wish I had made it bigger though. It took over 30 of the huge bags of soil to fill those things up! I thought it would never end. I also used two layers of a product called "Better Than Rocks" for drainage.
My extremely handy neighbor installed the electrical system. I already had an electrical outlet servicing the deck. From what I can tell, he added another outlet and a transformer. There are two 12v spotlights in the planters and 5 pathway lights that are mounted directly on the planter boxes. He pulled up a few deckboards in order to hide the wires and the rest of the wires are hidden just under the top layer of soil.
Hope that helps!
view Kathryn's profile
Thanks Kathryn. The insulation is a great idea. I love the spotlights in the planters. You've given me some great ideas for planters around our deck.
view gem's profile