Creative Decks

Your Outdoor Living Specialist

"Design Drawings and Construction Plans"

Framingham, MA

508-877-1060

Creative Deck Design

Does Your Deck Need a Roof?

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Soaking up the summer sun is fun – but you can have too much of a good thing. the desire for some shade and a cool place to relax outdoors leads many Metrowest homeowners to wonder: Does our deck need a roof?

Creative Deck Design: Roof Essentials

There are many ways to think about adding a roof to your porch. A screen porch requires a roof, or a roof can be installed over your roof without the need to add any screens or windows. Deck roofs can be of the same material as the roof on your home, or you may choose to use a different roofing surface. Deck roofs can be made of metal – these sound fantastic when it rains and they last a lifetime – as well as shingles.

A deck roof can cover the entirety of your deck, or only a portion of it. When you have a roof put on your deck, you’re going to want to talk to your creative deck design company about how water will be carried away from your deck during a rain storm, including gutter and downspout placement. Gardeners often seek a way to capture rainwater for their plants, and this can be part of your deck design process.

If roofing all or even a significant portion of your deck isn’t right for you, you have other options. Talk to your creative deck designer about the different types of shade structures. Having a screen room built on your deck is one popular option; pergolas, canopies and awnings also all have their fans.

Deck Design Style Options

There are two approaches to adding a roof to your deck. One school of thought holds that your deck should integrate seamlessly with your home and look like it’s always been there. The other approach uses creative deck design to create a space that’s visually distinct from the existing home yet enhances the structure’s overall appearance.

Your creative deck designer will be able to present you with different options, customized for your home, lot, and lifestyle. Choose the look you like best and get ready to enjoy summer even more!

When It Comes to Decks, Size Does Matter

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Stop trying to squeeze your lifestyle onto a deck that’s just too small to take it. That’s the advice from outdoor living experts, who advise thinking of your deck as an addition to your home – an additional room with the specific purpose of making your family’s life better and more fun.

How Big is the Average Deck?

According to Landscaping.com, the average deck is between 300 and 400 square feet. Many builders recommend that the deck be at least as large as the largest room in your home – however, frankly, here in Metrowest MA, the largest room in a home can be fairly small.

Our recommendation as creative deck designers is to invest in as much deck space as you can realistically use and enjoy. If you’ve got a busy active family, with pets, and you know you’re going to spend a lot of time outdoors, go for the 500+ square foot deck. By the same token, we’ve built large decks for smaller families who entertain frequently, enjoy gardening on their deck, do art outside, or have other plans that need a lot of space.

What About Second-Story Decks?

Second-story decks do tend to be smaller, with the local average being between 250-400 sq feet. Again, it’s helpful to be clear on the purpose of your second story deck during the design process. Some second-story decks serve as a private retreat area, accessed through a couple’s bedroom, that provide a setting to sit and watch the stars together or enjoy a morning coffee. These decks can be smaller than the second-story decks that will be used by a family seeking to enjoy the fresh air together.

Planning a New Deck?

If you’re ready for a new deck, or you know your existing deck needs to be bigger, the time to book time with your local Metrowest deck builders is now. Beginning the planning process in February means work on your new deck can begin in the spring and you’ll be able to enjoy it all summer long.

The Principles of Creative Deck Design

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When we talk about creative deck design, we’re really talking about the joy of outdoor living. Outdoor living is something we’re particularly passionate about. There’s a reason we’ve decided to devote so much of our career to designing and building decks and patios. Being outdoors gives people joy, lifts their spirit, promotes an optimistic world view, and improves the health, yet most of us spend more than 90% of our lives indoors.

We’re a little company. We’re not going to be able to change the world works. Most people are going to keep right on spending 90% of their lives indoors. But we’re hoping, through the decks we build, to encourage at least a few people to take that first step and get out in the fresh air. Check out the clouds as they float by overhead. Listen to some birds. Wave at the neighbor as they jog by. Appreciate the space and community we live in.

Creative deck design means building spaces that work for families. We encourage our clients to choose composite decking because it can stand up to the wear and tear of kids, animals, and adventure gear. It’s also super low maintenance, so you can spend your time enjoying your deck instead of painting it. Composite decking doesn’t have the mold or mildew problems you can see wooden decks develop, especially during rainy seasons. Insects aren’t interested in it either. Lots of benefits, limited headaches: that’s creative deck design at its finest.

Your deck should suit your family’s lifestyle. That means if you do a lot of entertaining, you need room on the deck to cook – maybe a built in barbecue or an outdoor kitchen – as well a place for your friends to congregate. Have lots of little kids in your life? Screen porch options make playtime fun and easy.

Wabi Sabi & Huge Furniture: The 2018 Decor Trends That Equal A Really Comfy Deck

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Do your New Year’s Resolutions include getting outdoors more? If they do, you’re not alone: unplugging and getting more fresh air and sunshine are on plenty of people’s lists. With that in mind, let’s take a look at the creative deck design trends that you’ll be hearing about in 2018: wabi sabi and maximalism.

Wabi Sabi Remember the hygge craze? Our love for all things comfy and cozy doesn’t go away once warmer weather arrives. Wabi Sabi is the Japanese practice in finding beauty in the imperfect and unfinished. This means rather than focusing on making your deck look showroom perfect – which is always a challenge with children and pets! – you can enjoy having a beautiful space that is enjoyed and lived in. Wabi Sabi is often expressed through ceramics: for outdoor living, look for planters and flowerpots that have quirky charm to capitalize on this trend. Look for ceramic planters filled with small evergreen shrubberies to appear on decks near you. They add life to a deck while providing privacy screening and a windbreak.

Maximalism Sometimes bigger is better! Maximalism is the trend for more of everything. Think larger furniture, brighter colors, bolder patterns – in other words, this is not the year for subtle restraint. There are two ways this applies to creative deck design. The first and most obvious is seating: choose large, sturdy pieces built for comfort and style. Many homeowners may prefer to choose the seating in a neutral color and going wild with color and pattern in the cushions. Then it’s time to talk about plantings. Many creative deck designs feature built in flowerboxes and other planters. 2018 is definitely the year to go wild with color. This doesn’t have to be expensive, and it can be fun for the kids: invest in seeds reliable garden favorites like zinnias and cosmos – both available in a dazzling range of color – and for a few bucks, your home can be perfectly on trend.

Home Improvements on List of 15 Smart Things to Do with $1,000

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Selena Maranjian is a financial expert who writes for the very popular website, The Motley Fool. She was asked the top 15 things that a person could do with $1,000 and we’re happy to see home improvements is on the list.

Here in the Metrowest area, home improvements don’t always require a huge budget. Maranjian offers several relatively affordable options for sprucing the place up: you could paint a few rooms or have new appliances installed. One suggestion that caught our eye was new porch furniture. Let’s talk about what you can do to improve your deck for under $1,000:

Porch Stairs: Porch stairs get a lot of wear, especially if you have children or pets. Over the course of time, stairs wear out. You may have noticed your porch stair boards sagging, warping or cracking. Maybe a board is missing entirely! When porch stairs aren’t at their best, they can become dangerous, particularly for anyone who has balance issues. If you have older family members or little ones that are just learning how to walk, having the porch stairs replaced makes good sense.

Deck Lighting: A simple and affordable upgrade that can greatly enhance the enjoyment of your deck is to have lighting added. Lighting can be built into deck features to provide low-level illumination – great to prevent trips and falls at night – or be deployed strategically to illuminate the most used part of your deck.

Railings and Banisters: A quick trick to modernize an other-wise serviceable deck is to have the existing railings and banisters swapped out for a more contemporary look. We’ve done this several times for clients who have told us their friends were sure they had had an entirely new deck put in when that was not the case – that’s how much of an impression this simple change can make.

Rustic Touches for a Sophisticated Deck: Creative Design Makes All The Difference

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“Ron was born in Boston and has lived here all of his life,” Kellie said. “I’m a country girl. I’m willing to give up a lot to be here with my guy, but I want our home to reflect some of my personality and what’s important to me.”

Creative deck design begins in the acknowledgement that the home is an expression of the self. If there’s only one homeowner, that’s easy enough, but most families include more than one person. Understanding and integrating the multiple personal preferences into a deck design that works for everyone can mean marrying seemingly disparate elements, such as rustic with sophisticated, or big city with country casual.

As Metrowest deck builders, we’ve found one successful route forward is to have each party identify essential, must-have features they want in the deck. Areas that are essential to more than one person can be the starting point of a creative deck design. In Kellie and Ron’s case, that meant the fire feature for their deck. Both of them enjoyed the idea of relaxing by a fire under the stars; Ron’s vision was of a sleek gas fireplace while Kellie wanted a more traditional wood burning fire pit. Compromise was found with deck design that combined the look of a traditional fire pit with the easy care and maintenance of a gas fireplace.

“I always loved the cornstalks and pumpkins on the deck in the autumn,” Kellie said. “But Ron thinks that looks cluttered and trashy.” Navigating a balance meant building in areas for seasonal displays that could be both contained and festive. This included built in flowerboxes as well as strategically positioned posts for hanging wreaths or other decorative displays. “When Ron saw everything could be displayed tastefully, he came around,” Kellie said. “And I think having a great Christmas display really sold him on the idea. Anything is possible with good design – even getting my Boston guy to appreciate some country decor!”