our house has a big deck, which is nice, but kind of strange in the city. sometimes i wish we had a patio instead, or at least a privacy fence. when we're out on the deck i feel very much on display for the neighbors - like everyone is watching me grill hamburgers or something. so issue #1 is that i'd like to do something that that helps make the deck a little more private. even if it doesn't physically make it more private, it would be nice if it at least felt more comfortable. part of this could be the lack of furniture, but we won't get into that yet.

issue #2 - we live in st. louis. and it gets hot. like really hot. our backyard has a giant tree... that has been cut back so much it barely provides any shade. so we could use some shade on the deck. the idea of putting a patio umbrella up on the deck just seems strange to me.

my solution? a sun shade sail thing:

only i'd (of course) want to make this ourselves. i would only cover half of the deck, and use our balcony as a connection point for one side.

what do you think? do-able? worth it? has any one out there done something similar? here's a quick photoshop image...