“I knew I was going to have to have professionals come in and build a deck on my Framingham home,” Elizabeth said. “But I thought I could save some money and be more involved in the process by designing my deck myself. So I got out my graph paper and my pencil and I sat down to start drawing plans – that’s when I realized I didn’t know where to start!”
As Framingham deck builders, we’re absolutely thrilled to work with clients through the design process. You don’t need to have an architectural degree to do the preliminary work of envisioning and creating your deck. We would never expect a client to come to us with a fully rendered blueprint of their dream deck, so don’t put that kind of pressure on yourself. Instead, begin at the beginning with the following deck design tasks:
Inspiration Gathering: Collect images of decks and deck features you do like. This collection can include pictures you take yourself, as well as pictures you find in home design magazines and online. Pinterest is a great social media platform for collecting and curating images – there’s an app you can install on your phone in case you’re dreaming about your new deck on lunch hour!
Concept Sketches: Concept sketches are rough pictures of your dream deck. It’s totally okay to just draw part of your deck. If you’re very clear on what you want an outdoor kitchen feature to look like, or you know how you’d like your built in seating to work, sketch it to the best of your ability. Don’t worry about putting all of the pieces together – that comes later, in the development of a preliminary plan.
Colors, fabrics & finishes: Interior designers often create swatch books showcasing paint chips, fabrics, and other finishes that will be featured in a room. This helps make sure everything in the room goes together in a pleasing fashion. Think about what decking color, outdoor furniture finish and fabrics, and other visual accent colors you’d like to have on your porch. Collect images with the appropriate colors on a Pinterest board – this will make selection and shopping easier later.