A Little Breathing Space

When I married Gregg, it was the second marriage for both of us.  The love was BIG, and so was the new family.  As a combined family of 8 (three kids each), our home began to feel a bit cramped, however.  We had truly filled our home from basement to roof with children.

We needed to expand our living space, but loved our current location on a large park.  We decided to create an outdoor space that would allow us another "room" or space for living.  Gregg and I quickly went to work on our "Must Have" list.  His priorities centered around practicality and function, while mine involved aesthetically pleasing components.  We worked with our friend Nathan Diller to create a plan that incorporated all our priorities.

The deck that existed when we bought the home was huge, but old and in need of many repairs.
Here is our entire family after our wedding ceremony, on the old deck.

The Must Haves that we agreed upon were:
1) It must be large: After all, we were looking for an outdoor space that would accommodate our large extended family and beloved friends.
2) It must be covered: Our Colorado snowstorms often blew in from the north, burying our back door in drifts up to 3 feet high!  We wanted to protect our home from these damaging elements.
3) It must incorporate a gas fire pit: We had spent half our summer around our friends, Dan and Jody's, fire pit and never tired of it!  We knew we wanted to have one of our own.

Then came the part where Venus and Mars had their own ideas:

Mars (my beloved husband):
1) It must be wired for sound
2) It must have a gas line run for the grill
3) The decking must be made of maintenenance-free PVC decking
4) There needed to be a large ceiling fan in the deck cover to move air on hot summer evenings
5) Low-voltage lighting must be incorporated to illuminate the staircase and deck boundaries since we would be using the space at night

Venus (Moi):
1) All columns must be brick with flagstone caps
2) The ceiling of the roof cover must be cherry-stained tongue and groove
3) The fire pit needed to be brickwork, and incorporate a low brick wall (also capped in flagstone) for extra seating and privacy
4) The trim work around our hip roof needed to incorporate the same dental moulding used on the front of our home

Here is our poor home with the old deck removed and the ground being prepped for the big project:

Gregg, Nate and I acquired the necessary permits and created a plan that filled all our needs.  The process took several months, with Gregg acting as the general contractor.  The masonry and brickwork was done by a father/son team that Gregg knew. The deck plan, construction, and ironwork were completed by Nate.

In the end, this addition exceeded all our expectations! We spend as much time in our outdoor space as we do indoors.  Our kids and their bevy of friends fit more than comfortably.  Even our cold Colorado winters allow for many fire pit nights, bundled in blankets around the fire with cups of steamy hot chocolate in hand. We couldn't be more grateful for our repurposed outdoor breathing space!

The outdoor deck seats six around the small coffee table and another four around a larger circular table.









Our patio below houses the fire pit that seats eight in chairs and a low capped wall that allows for additional seating.

Our completed outdoor living space that has provided an abundance of breathing room for this big family!

Love, live and create intentionally,
Kristi