Mike Harper and his family had lived with a small, increasingly tired-looking deck on the back of his Arts & Crafts home for 20 years. After years of enduring long Chicago winters, they hoped to enjoy the warmer months even more. Finally, they hired Get Dwell to design and build a deck with the added room they wanted and that would work better as part of the yard.
“We told them what we wanted generally and they sketched it out,” Harper says. “They created an interpretation of their own, one that picked up elements of our house.”
The goal was to borrow Art & Crafts features of the home to avoid the “off-the-rack” look common to many decks while accommodating all the features that the Harpers wanted.
“Most people just take what’s available at the home center and build with no regard to how the house looks,” says Greg Vereschagin, a Project Manager with Get Dwell. “A gifted carpenter, however, can build a deck that works in partnership with the house and gives the project a feeling of wholeness.”
“Their design isn’t boxy at all,” Harper says. “There are angled edges and a lot of tapered features that draw from the design of our window treatments.”
Harper says he also appreciates the sturdiness of the deck.
“I really liked the workmanship they put into it,” he says. “It’s extremely strong, and it just looks great. We’re very, very happy with it and expect to enjoy it for many years to come.”
