To me, nothing screams summer or Coastal French like navy blue and white stripes. Whether you’re on a pier in Chicago or St. Tropez, the stark contrast of those crisp colors signals sunshine and open seas. I live among the woods, but I wanted to conjure that seaside feeling every time I stepped out back. This coastal blue deck brings me joy from late May right through fall!

We made it happen in three steps:

1. Paint
2. Furniture/Rug
3. Lighting

Paint: The Perfect Backdrop

As with everything in this house, the deck came a long way from where it started. It used to be — you guessed it — brown:

After a power washing and sanding, it was time to take the plunge with paint. We agonized over the color, knowing a white like the one on the house (BM Harwood Putty) would be loco with the amount of pollen, dirt and leaf litter regularly in the mix. The spindles and rails could be white, but not the floor. So we hunted for a very light khaki color — something fresh, but more forgiving than white. We landed on the strangely named Benjamin Moore Ice Formations (973).

What I learned in the writing of this post, is ‘Ice Formations’ is another name for BM’s wildly popular color ‘Revere Pewter’. I wasn’t as far out on a limb (or iceberg) with this color as I’d thought! Outside, it appears much lighter than it does in the digital swatch (above).

Ahhhh. Crisp and clean. It reminds me of sailcloth! We clean it once at the beginning of the season using a deck scrubber on a long handle. Due to ice and snow, we’re finding it needs to be repainted every 2-3 years. That’s not usual in this neck of the woods.

Coastal Blue Deck Furnishings

To nail a coastal blue deck, we looked for gray, white or navy blue furniture. We ended up with what we feel is the perfect set, though it took a LOT of internet digging to find.

At the beginning, every set we liked was WAY too big for the space. I would attempt to tape the dimensions on the floor with painters tape, and quickly see how crowded it would be … or that it wouldn’t fit at all. Our deck isn’t huge — 14.5 x 13.5 ft. If we wanted room for plants or a heat lamp in the corners, the sofa couldn’t be any wider than about 9 feet. We had a couple choices; one in the $thousands, one under a thousand. Friends encouraged us to go with the latter, and we (happily) listened.

This modular set from Best Choice Products ($599) can be configured in several ways. It has little clamps for tethering the pieces together underneath. I have no recollection of putting it together, so it must not have been too frustrating! It’s deep enough for the average person to sit in, and low enough it doesn’t dwarf the deck rails, or bang into them. The set also comes with a cover we used religiously for a few years (for rain or snow), until it broke down and ripped to shreds. I wish I could buy a replacement because I think it helped tremendously! Only after the cover went, did the furniture start to show weathering (4 winters later).

Despite what the dog is communicating below, I can’t claim it’s the most luxurious furniture. We enjoy stretching out on it, though, soaking up summer with a glass of sauvignon blanc and the wireless speakers playing nearby! The construction is solid enough I am never worried about anyone inadvertently tipping these pieces, or poking a hole in them. If I entertained a lot, I would consider finding a more cozy set of cushions … but no one’s ever complained!

A Bold Blue Rug

This rug really ties the deck ‘room’ together. Its bold geometric pattern would be out of place inside the four walls, but like the kids, it’s allowed to use its outside voice on the deck! The colors tie it to the interior, and it was a fun excuse to play outside our Coastal French design box. Morocco is only a jaunt across the Mediterranean from France — it’s not unheard of to find North African prints on French shores!

This particular rug is now sold out at most places, but if you’re obsessed we found one supplier still carrying it (in several sizes, too) in Virginia. Like the furniture, we taped off the floor to better imagine dimensions before selecting a size. We could have gone larger, but using a 6’7″ x 9’6″ creates a ‘room’ under the furniture. It also leaves a gap between edge of the rug and the house. This makes the deck space appear a little larger.

Like any good outdoor rug, this one is WASHABLE. I’ve gone so far as taking a bleach mixture to it to remove stubborn leaf stains, etc … and it comes clean!

Here is a rug by Annie Selke with similar vibes that comes in Navy or French blue:

Solar Light Strings and Shepherd Hooks

No modern deck decor is complete without a string of fairy lights crowning the space! We bought two sets of well-reviewed solar lights from Amazon, and clipped them to each other in the center. The solar pads sit out of sight on the railing and in the nearest tree. We used another blogger’s tip of sawing off part of a shepherd hook and fastening it to the deck corners to hold up the lights.

Even in the nastiest Nor’easters, these hooks don’t budge! We just unclip the two light strings from each other before big storms so there’s slack in the lines (free to sway).

Four years on, these lights still work. They stay on all evening, though I’ll admit sometimes a set gets confused and comes on during the day. This can happen when the solar panels get flipped over accidentally. Other times, there’s no explaining it. They eventually sort themselves out again!