Custom Homes | Turn Your Deck Into an Outdoor Oasis

Custom Homes | Your home is your castle, your escape from the noise and chaos of the rest of life. That’s why so many of us invest our dreams – and dollars – into the features that not only add value to our homes but our quality of life. For the money, a wood deck is a great investment for a homeowner to make. Not only will you see an average 80.5 percent return on your investment, you’ll also benefit from expressing your personal style with one of the most versatile fixtures on a home’s exterior.

Though a redwood deck is beautiful on its own, it’s also ready to project whatever postcard-perfect image you have in mind. Combine the growing popularity of both outdoor living rooms and the “staycation” concept, and you have the perfect start to creating your own outdoor oasis.

Whether you’re building a new deck or refinishing an existing one, there are a number of small touches and design elements that can help transform the look and feel of your outdoor deck space with minimal investment or effort. What’s more, defining your outdoor oasis with redwood will give you lasting beauty and unparalleled durability that can change with your own tastes and needs over time.

Here are five easy tips to turn your deck into an outdoor oasis:

1. Play up Existing Features

Look at the space you’re working with and identify some of the features you want to highlight: Is there a stairway leading to the surrounding landscape? In-deck pool or Jacuzzi? Breathtaking views? Define what you want to focus on to make the most of your budget and existing assets.

2. Accessorize, Accessorize, Accessorize

Carefully-placed accessories like planters and accent tables help call attention to features you want to highlight, or even guide foot traffic through the space. Depending on the design, it’s easy to create pieces that are movable or built-in. With its natural stability, redwood is a great lumber to use for all accents.

3. Turn Negative Features Into Positives

Every property has a few potential aesthetic liabilities – perhaps one side of the deck is a little too close to the property line, or a lack of mature trees means light exposure is less filtered at certain times of the day. Treat these challenges as opportunities for additional definition of your space.Overhead redwood structures built onto the deck, for instance, create shade and spatial definition, vertical trellis panels protect from sun and wind, and fences can be placed to screen, divide and decorate.

4. Don’t Forget to Put Your Feet Up

Room for relaxation is a must in any outdoor oasis, and the kind of seating designed within the space can work double-time. Low walls or planters can be leveraged in your design for simple bench seating solutions, leaving more room for a chaise or char and ottoman on the deck.  It’s easy to build simple platform or backed benches; they may be freestanding or components of other elements in your deck design. For the weekend carpenter, this is a great way to express personal style and deliver added usefulness to the space. It’s easy to find a variety of inspiring woodworking plans that can deliver the style you want for your deck seating.

5. Build for Beauty and Long-term Use

You want to relax and enjoy your oasis and not spend hours working on maintaining the structure! That’s why it’s even more important to build your outdoor oasis to last season over season, year over year. Decks are outdoor structures, so any materials need to be able to withstand environmental elements,  but still retain their symmetry and beauty. Redwood has a well-earned reputation for meeting these requirements, with a natural resistance to shrinking, warping and checking. This means redwood projects age beautifully. Equally important, there are cost-effective redwood grades to specify for every project.

Any time of the year is the perfect time to create your outdoor oasis on your deck. Planning can take place in any weather, and work on portable pieces of the design is easily done in a controlled environment.

The key to creating a space you want to spend time in is creating time to enjoy your space. When you’re working with redwood, your oasis will still look great ten, fifteen and twenty years after construction. So you know you’ll have more time than ever to relax in your own personal oasis. - Redfin

 Looking for a new house builder? Please do not hesitate to contact us at Landon Homes, (904)567-3430!