FLIGHT DECK

Travel for leisure may not be an option, but a destination deck brings on that vacation vibe.

Time to destination: two minutes! That’s how long it takes designer Sandy Soares Caetano to travel to her Yucatán-inspired getaway – a 175-square-foot deck just outside her second-floor apartment. “I wanted a loungey feeling that would remind me of warm places I loved to visit,” says Sandy. To that end, she replaced what had been warped treated-lumber decking with cedar, and lined the perimeter railings with plants and a privacy screen. Clever use of inexpensive materials – like updating a bar cart and shelving with spray paint – kept the project on budget, and storage benches from a hardware store subbed in for pricey seating. “Not only did they cost less, I can hide gardening tools in there,” says Sandy. To broaden the range of colour and pattern choices for cushions, she relied on indoor fabrics treated with weather-protectant spray.

Luckily, on most summer days, the deck is a sun-soaked getaway, and at night, layers of outdoor lighting evoke a dreamy, balmy, faraway feeling. Candelight at the table, pillar-caps on the corners of the deck, and bamboo lanterns all add ambiance, as do some surprises, like “rocks” that light up at night. “I wanted being out here to feel like being on vacation, whether it was daylight or evening, whether I was out here to work or relax,” says Sandy. “It truly feels that way. When I step outside, I may be in central Toronto, but I feel like I’m worlds away.”

OPPOSITE Hugging the deck railings is a series of window boxes. “I won’t lie. The plants are 100 per cent chosen to blend with the colours of the pillows,” says Sandy. The colourful, cushy collection of pillows in rose and blush tones are extra plump. “Since the deck railings double as seat-backs, the pillows needed to be soft.” The Tulum-inspired palette includes straw, blush, sand and stone tones. “And every room needs some stripes, even if that room is outdoors,” says Sandy. The tableware and glassware is from inside. “It’s real glass and pottery, not melamine. So, it’s like dining in an outdoor restaurant terrace.”

RIGHT The bar cart used to be white. Sandy primed and painted it black with weatherproof paint. Her tip? “Use matte paint for outdoors so it won’t reflect the sun.”

LEFT “There’s always sangria,” laughs designer Sandy Soares Caetano. “Not only does it contribute to a vacation vibe, I love how the fruit brings gorgeous colours to the decor!” Sandy fashioned a leafy privacy wall by weaving vines of faux-plant life through a link fence.

ABOVE Dangling from a vast shade-giving, rain-dispersing umbrella is a galaxy of sparkling glass orbs. At night, their faux candles punctuate the tent-like seating area with points of light. The table, which looks like wood, is actually easy-care metal in beige. Sandy fashioned the seating from storage-benches fitted with semi-custom cushions in warm dark grey, a colour repeated in the cord-backed armchairs. For the pillows, Sandy drew on a Tulum vacation palette that features warm clay pinks, bold stripes and stone-toned neutrals.

BELOW A pointed arch fashioned from metalwork that used to hang on the wall indoors was repurposed for outdoors. Sandy spray-painted it gunmetal black, then mounted it above an inexpensive shelving unit. Draped in greenery, it provides Spanish flair. Terracotta pots of heat-loving herbs and tiny tropical citrus trees are at the ready for cooking. When dusk falls, a bamboo lantern suggests a faraway, tropical glow. DESIGN, Sandy Soares Caetano, Casa Caetano Design. UMBRELLA, Home Depot Canada. TABLE, Casualife Outdoor Living. Glass GLOBES, batteryoperated TEALIGHTS, Hofland. RUG, ICE BUCKET, CB2. CHAIRS, Article. CUSHIONS, Moscow Mule CUPS, Wayfair. PILLOWS, Tonic Living; Saudade Toronto; Indigo. THROW, Anna Westerlund PITCHER (on bar cart), Saudade Toronto. Schott Wiesel GLASSWARE, Crate and Barrel. PLANTINGS, Sheridan Nursery; Jong Young Floral Market. CARAFE, bamboo LANTERN, Indigo. DISHWARE, Spal Portugal. BAR CART, METAL BASIN, HomeSense. Bar cart PAINT COLOUR, farmhouse black matte, Rust-Oleum Universal Spray Paint & Primer. Wooden SHELVING UNIT, IKEA.