Your outdoor living area should be a space you long to come home to every time. It should be attractive, inviting, soothing and cosy— a space where different activities can be carried out with ease.
You can enjoy nature at its best while carrying out your favourite activity with your favourite people in the world.
But, this would not be the case if the decking in your outdoor space looks drab, boring and uninviting. Instead of adding life to the other natural features in the surroundings, it will be as though everything is being drained of life and light.
However, there’s a way out!
Regardless of the type of decking boards you are using for your outdoor space, it can still be spruced up to create a living and breathing oasis.
Whether it’s your patio, garden, yard or building structure, below are some ideas you can experiment with to create a charming, cosy, and visually appealing living area.
Add Life and Colour With Stains
Using stains as paint for your deck can make your once lifeless deck come alive and have colour. Stains are preferred to paint because it doesn’t fade easily and allow the natural beauty of the deck board to illuminate the place.
There are lots of colours you can choose from but dark colours like grey or ash are preferable so that they can complement the other features in your space, making them pop and stand out.
Add Colour With Light or Soft Patterns
For a year-round effect, you can have beautiful design patterns with soft colours on your deck flooring. It can be around your seating area, that way you won’t need an outdoor rug or carpet.
If you love changing your outdoor designs seasonally, then an outdoor rug would be the best option for your seating area. You can play around with different designs and patterns that have soft colours that will complement your outdoor features thereby creating a harmonious and welcoming environment for relaxation.
Opt for a low-maintenance Decking Option
For busy homeowners who wouldn’t have the time to care for their decking board and keep it looking nice, low-maintenance composite decking is the most ideal option. It provides the beautiful appearance of traditional timber without the usual high maintenance demand. Homeowners do not need to go through the hassle of yearly sanding, sealing and staining because this type of deck board does not decay as a result of extreme weather conditions. All you have to do to keep composite decking looking new is to clean it with a soft-bristle brush and soapy water periodically.
Add a Shade to Your Seating Area
A shade will provide protection during sunny and windy days. You can use a retractable pergola or canopy so that it can be folded back when you want to enjoy the feel of passing a cool breeze through your hair or trailing down your spine.
It’s something everyone looks forward to while spending time outdoors. You can decorate your pergola or canopy with artificial trailing plants just to spice up your seating area.
Add Colour With Pillows and Cushions
Another way to make your outdoor space pop is to add colourfully designed throw pillows and cushions on the seats in your seating area.
This can buy flowery fabrics or make nice patterns out of tye and dye and sew covers for your pillows, creating an inviting space for relaxation.
You can also place soft cushions on the rug to enhance comfort and relaxation.
Encompass Your Decking With Flowers and Plants
Plants are a nice way to add life and colour to your outdoor space. They add a touch of nature and improve the visual appeal of your space.
To make it even better you can have a mini garden where you grow flowers and plants that will attract wildlife like birds, butterflies, insects, etc. As you spend time outdoors, the sound and sight of butterflies and birds can turn a sour day into an interesting one almost immediately.
If you cannot have a garden because of the nature of your outdoor space, you can make planters out of leftover decking boards and use them to decorate your decking, placing them in areas where they can get sufficient sunlight.
You can also opt for a vertical garden where you can grow plants with colourful flowers using a trellis, creating an inviting and cosy atmosphere for your leisure time.
Use Steps to Create an Extension of Your Decking
This can serve as a minimal raised decking for your outdoor space and you can enhance its functionality by making the stair treads detachable such that it can be used for outdoor storage. This way, you don’t have to build a different structure to store your garden tools, BBQ equipment or non-weather-resistant outdoor accessories.
Add Lighting
There are different lighting ideas you can use on your decking such that it will set a cosy atmosphere in your outdoor space.
Floor lighting like the Recessed LED Deck Light Kits sold on Amazon is a beautiful idea you can use on your deck. The light rays come from the ground up so you can choose to have a mix of different bulb colours, creating a warming contrast in the atmosphere.
You can also use fairy or string lights, hanging them on any outdoor feature thereby creating a cosy and soothing atmosphere to relax in.
Conclusion
The decked area in your outdoor space whether an extension or a stand-alone should be attractive and inviting such that it would be a place where you desire to spend a lot of time in.
You can also entertain guests with pride in your heart, giving them an experience they won’t forget in a hurry.
