Building a wooden deck onto the back of your home or in your backyard or adding a patio adds value to your house and gives you another space for living and entertaining. A deck or patio is a wonderful place to host a party or to have a few friends over to relax with drinks. It increases the amount of livable space of your home by allowing you to move some of your indoor activities outside. Many people spend most of their summers outdoors on their decks and patios.

Some creative things you can do with your deck or pation are things such as adding another eating area, creating a play space for children, and adding another place to cook and prepare meals. Some people go as far as creating an entire outdoor cooking, eating, and living room area on their decks.

Most people use their decks or patios as an outdoor eating area and many have gas grills to help with cooking. Today, though, more and more people are building entire kitchens on their decks and patios. The sky is the limit as manufacturers are creating outdoor food prep and kitchen equipment specifically geared for the outdoors. Stainless abounds as it is weatherproof and looks good even after a heavy rainstorm. Gas is still the preferred fuel for outdoor cooking. Sinks and small refrigerators are also becoming popular outdoors. It makes food prep and cleanup much easier if you have a sink right near your outdoor gas cook stove.

Outdoor dining furniture has improved over the years. Previously, you had you choice of metal tables and chairs. Now, you will find all types of exotic woods, man-made wicker, and even weatherproof upholstered furniture for your outdoor dining area.

And for relaxing, the days of folding lawn chairs are over! Overstuffed chairs with water-resistant fabrics are popular, as are synthetic wicker furnishings with weatherproof cushions. And the fabric choices are vast allowing you to color coordinate with almost any outdoor décor on your deck or patio.

So don’t think of your deck or patio as simply a place to hang out outdoors. Think of them as an extension of your indoor living space.