Deck Privacy Screen, Take 2, or 3?

We have a deck that sits above the garden, and also - above most of our neighbours. When we first moved in, one of the things that Aubrey built me was a privacy screen for the deck [top left photo].  Back then we used lattice, and left the screen it "as is" - no paint, stain. And truthfully - it weathered quite nicely. However, for some reason, perhaps a looming backyard party (more on that in another post) I decided our deck needed updating. [insert exasperated looks from Aubrey]

We don't have the money to throw at our major improvements to our deck, nor the energy so I took it into my own hands and decided to stain the lattice Inukshuk by Benjamin Moore, a colour I adore on our Bear Chairs in the front, hoping that this would give me the deck a refresher. [Top Right Photo]  Unfortunately,  I didn't love the colour on the lattice (whoops!) so I put on some black paint, to see how I liked the look (after pinning some nice inspirational pictures). 

Thankfully Aubrey agreed to try out the black, and he also used the opportunity to switch out the diamond lattice that was previously there, with square that he felt matched the garden better (slightly more modern) and also matched our other newer screens. 

After Aubrey cut the square lattice to size, (bottom right photo) I painted it black - Onyx by Delux  (with my sprayer) But unfortunately when we held up the black lattice where it was going to go....I hated it. Not because of the colour, but because there was so much distance between each of the squares that it didn't give us much privacy at all. It seemed really busy and not very relaxing. Aubrey thankfully agreed that it wasn't a great look - which helped, because he was the one doing the majority of the work.  We still had time before our party, and the investment in this project wasn't a big deal yet so Aubrey and I decided to go with horizontal boards [bottom left] that we thought would be a little more modern...

 Here is the "in between" photo - not yet done, but really, I adore it.

This isn't the "after" so don't judge yet (because it looks way better now than it does above) But we're considering lighting to put on the posts - which I'll blog about next. :) xo