I’ve always been fascinated by gates. They do more than mark a boundary or keep pets safe — the right gate can feel like an inviting threshold to a secret garden. Even a simple gate, with a touch of charm, can change the whole feel of an entrance.
I enjoy gate hunting around neighborhoods almost as much as I enjoy admiring homes. You may have noticed the two gates I shared in earlier drive-by posts. If you missed those, they were featured previously. But for now, here’s an update on our own gate situation.
On this side of the house we’re still without a proper gate — yes, we’re officially Gateless in Seattle. Years ago I announced how excited I was to add a gate to our side patio, but a string of setbacks delayed the project. For a long time, a bench and various garden supplies have been propped in the opening to keep the dogs in. It’s a bit ridiculous, but it’s been our temporary solution.
We did have two other gates installed around that time: a double gate between the side yard and backyard, which we recently painted, and a single gate on the other side of the yard. The side patio gate simply didn’t get finished — a long story of delays and missed contractors.
Thankfully, we finally have a new contractor lined up through Lowe’s contractor service, and I’m optimistic this one will complete the job. They’ll build the gate and wrap the porch posts with wood trim, giving the posts a more substantial, finished appearance. We’ve been waiting on that trim for a while, so it’s exciting to be moving forward.
The photo above shows the posts before wrapping and before the railings were installed — the railings look great and I’ll share those soon. In the background you can see the pallet we’ve been using as a makeshift gate. Fingers crossed we’re in the home stretch.
These final two tasks — the gate and the porch posts — are the last projects on our summer outdoor list. Most of the other projects have been small-scale, like working with our vegetable barrels.
We’ve continued using the same chemical-free barrels we’ve had for a few years. They’re easy to plant and fit well into our limited space, so instead of launching a large new garden project this year, we decided to keep these barrels in place another season.
We planted kale and lettuce this season — we started late and bought young plants rather than sowing seeds. Watching them grow has been rewarding, and we’ll enjoy using them alongside produce from our weekly organic farm delivery.
Lily’s small fragrant garden has really filled out over the past few weeks. It’s been lovely seeing it develop.
We also planted miniature rose trees we bought last year. They were nearly ruined by aphids this spring, so I pruned them back and expected to wait until next year for blooms. Surprisingly, they rebounded and began to flower. Aphids returned, but an essential oil spray stopped them in their tracks, so the roses are doing well now.
After setting up the deck furniture and arranging pots, we had a rain shower that forced us to bring cushions and rugs indoors. That’s Seattle weather for you — I generally leave cushions out unless an extended period of rain is forecast. Mostly we’ve had great weather, so it hasn’t been a big issue.
I’ll be sharing photos of the furniture and flower pots soon, and I’ll show the wrapped porch posts and the new gate as soon as they’re installed. There may even be progress photos in the next week or so.
I know many of you asked about staining our side patio concrete — you can spot it in the photo with Jack earlier in this post. That project is nearly finished and I’ll post an update soon.
As promised, we’ll host a virtual deck party for the big reveal once everything is complete. I’m excited to see the dishes everyone plans to bring. I’ll announce the winners of the Simple Gatherings books this week; if you haven’t entered yet, there’s still time to share what you’d bring to the virtual party in the previous deck progress post.
We’re looking forward to spending more time outside and enjoying our finished outdoor space.
You can catch up on our deck and exterior projects here:
Painted Brick Exterior and Outdoor Projects
Outdoor Projects Part Two
Designing and Shopping for our Deck Project
Trex Deck Building Process