3 Tips for Transforming Your Roof Into an Oasis

3. Decorating: the Fun Part

After it was complete, the fun part came: decorating, Tessier’s forte.

She chose a charcoal/pale grey combo for cushions, transforming an old lime-green couch bought at Canadian Tire for a pittance. The cushions, cloaked in Sunbrella fabric, were made thicker and sturdier. Wicker chairs and a dining table have a 10-year guarantee and are made to weather beautifully outdoors.

The easy-care furniture is coupled with plants set in pots with reservoirs: boxwood for screening, which will be trimmed into topiaries; lavender flanking the entrance; and white hydrangeas for the impact of their flower globes and lush greenery. “It’s made our apartment into a home,” says Tessier. “It’s a marriage of indoor and outdoor, which you don’t always have in a condo.”

After having spent one season enjoying the terrace, there are two things that the couple have decided they need but didn’t plan for initially: on-site water and electricity. A plumber will be called to insert a pipe up through an abandoned chimney so that they can install an outdoor water source, and an electrician will be hired to get rid of snaking orange extension cords.

When their friends and family flocked over last summer to view this urban oasis, “my husband’s cousin stopped the conversation and said in awe, ‘Do you realize that this is heaven here?’ ” reports Tessier. “ ‘You’ve made heaven.’ ”

Tip: Outdoor storage saves countless trips lugging cushions.