We have a lovely deck, but it was too hot to enjoy in the summertime. The sun that came in from the glass patio doors made the house hot, too.
So I was excited when I spotted these big “Dyning” awnings at Ikea.
I picked up two of them for $25 each. They’re made of lightweight water-repellent, UV protectant nylon. They have loops for attaching, and come with springs and ties.
My deck already had a short railing, since it’s on the second story. So I needed to build the railing higher so I’d be able to anchor the canopy to it and the house. (Sorry, I forgot to take a “before” picture, so you get a snowy view!)
With some help from a handy buddy, I screwed large lag bolts into pressure treated lumber to the back of the current posts. I then added the horizontal boards at top, overlapping the new vertical posts and screwing them in with lag bolts.
We added eye hooks to the top for the awning to hook into, and screwed coordinating ones into the house. The two awnings together were a bit longer than the deck, so we overlapped them in the center. The springs attached to the eye hooks at the house, and were then tied to the loops using the ties provided. The springs are really a brilliant addition… we get extreme winds here in the summer, and the springs gave enough to keep my awning from ripping away.
I loved my new awning! But then I thought… wouldn’t it be nice to add sheer curtains along the front to further block the late afternoon sun? And maybe add some privacy for outdoor dining? In the end, the cheapest option was to buy fabric shower curtains. These are made to be mildew resistant, they’re sheer and lightweight, and the holes at top are reinforced with a layer of plastic. Perfect!
I hung curtain rods on the OUTSIDE of the horizontal boards, then used metal rust-proof shower rings to attach three shower curtains I bought for $5 each. And then (because how could I resist?) I put up a strand of solar-powered rope lights.
Kind of romantic, no? At the end of the season, it’s easy to take the canopy and curtains down and throw them in the wash, and store them for next summer. Ah, summer!
I appreciate you posting this on your site. I stumbled on it as I was looking for an idea for my new deck on a home I’m purchasing. After flipping thru hundreds of expensive pages of ideas I saw yours. Looks great and the price is right too. Only I’m going to add led lights that are controlled wirelessly and can change colors and patterns to illuminate the glow effect from inside the covered deck. It will look great from the outside as well as in. Their only fifteen dollars for fifteen meters on dhgate.com though they are from China. All the best. Thanks brian
Hi! I love your canopy….I have been looking at it and wanting to do it for a couple of years. I have just purchased the canopies from Ikea however, I am wondering how this all withheld the wind? I do have a second floor deck and live in a so called “wind tunnel”. I plan on putting it on a wire that we can slide back and forth as we need it. But, everything that we purchase seems to get taken by the wind.
Blessings ~ Betsy
We have crazy wind storms here, too! These work because they have a spring on one end (included in the Ikea awning), so it flexes with the wind. We’ve had ours up for a couple of summers and they’ve held up wonderfully. We do take them down for the winter because we get heavy snowfall.
I would at least have longer curtains!? Lenght to reach bottom of rails to look better from outside, especially. I often get a regular curtain anyway, for the length (much classier) when doing a shower curtain. Plastic shower curtain liner with that.