These 40 Deck Ideas Will Turn the Patio Into Your Favorite Room in the House

Bring out the striped cushions and colorful umbrellas, and get transported to a dream vacation spot right in your backyard. The deck is made of sustainable ipe wood that has weathered to a soft gray. Drought-tolerant plants need only yearly trimming and occasional watering—which leaves plenty of time to kick back on a lounge chair and bask in the sun.

A deck wraps around most of this updated ranch house, almost doubling its square footage. This side of the home—technically the front yard—is shaded by the line of cottonwood trees that acts as a windbelt.

This backyard is optimized for relaxation. A rock wall fringed with Berkeley sedge separates a lower paved patio from a raised redwood deck and hot tub. The level change makes the small backyard appear larger. Columnar Hollywood junipers (Juniperus torulosa) cluster to the left of the deck, while a hedge of pineapple guavas (Feijoa sellowiana) grows against the back fence (made of cedar but stained to look like redwood). At night, strings of bistro lights emit a soft glow, like starlight, above the hot tub.

The 20- by 80-foot yellow cedar deck serves as an adjunct living space for this summer home on Washington's Mystery Bay. It’s protected from the rain by a roof of corrugated polycarbonate, a plastic material that allows ample light to filter inside. Tomato red chairs surround a simple folding office table, transformed by painting the top of it bright turquoise blue.

A rooftop deck over the garage gives the second floor of this Denver home added outdoor space. The composite wood decking was laid on top of the sealed roof, providing the flat surface with extra protection from sun and moisture—a bonus, given Denver's wide-ranging seasons. Overstuffed furniture is upholstered in Sunbrella indoor-outdoor fabric to prevent fading.

See our guide to building a wrap-around deck

A good deck can capture a view, create a comfortable outdoor room, and add a feeling of spaciousness to your home by blurring the boundaries between inside and out.

This partly sheltered deck serves as an indoor-outdoor space connecting a family room with a patio. Classically simple, it is a great transitional element for nearly any style of house. You can even build it yourself!

Gray is the perfect color for adding subtle detail, like this painted deck. Imagine it with a color—fun, but with an entirely different feel. Soft gray plays against the pink for a restful, feminine vibe.

A deck at the top of this sloping backyard transformed the space into an inviting destination for taking in the view.

The rear edge of the 15- by 24-foot deck notches into the hill. A low retaining wall holds the uphill section in place and doubles as another bench seat.

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This home's addition made room for a rooftop garden just off the master bedroom’s deck where the family grows herbs, strawberries, and a mini succulent garden, showing a lot can be packed into a small outdoor space.

At this stunning lakeside home, a barely visible frameless glass rail makes deck dwellers feel as though they’re perched on the prow of a ship. The home designer outfitted the space with a sofa, fire table, and rockers. “The fireplace has a wide lip that doubles as a table for drinks and small plates,” she says. Floor-level speakers cast music toward the house instead of toward neighbors.

This ipe wood deck is flush with the black slate floor extended from inside the home. The dark flooring creates the perfect backdrop for contrasting pops of bright orange.

This tiny deck off the side of this modern cabin home proves that you don't need a lot of space to make a big statement. The deck is big enough for chairs and even a small table, making it the perfect spot for morning coffee or an afternoon read—or simply a perch for blissfully taking in the amazing wooded surroundings.

With the doors to the deck open and folded back against the exterior walls, it feels like the living room and deck are one. The homeowner chose outdoor furniture that completely meshes with what’s inside.

This mid-century home's deck was built from plans in Sunset’s How to Build Decks for Outdoor Living, published in 1972. Large sliding doors open from the kitchen onto the space featuring a chic outdoor cone fireplace, where guests tend to migrate after dinner.

This deck was constructed from bits and pieces left behind by the house’s previous owners. Before building anything structural out of found materials, have a contractor or carpenter check the materials for damage.

Instead of stairs, a three-level deck steps up to the front door of this raised post-and-pier-house on the island of Oahu.

Tropical accessories on the deck and throughout the garden turned this entry into a personal paradise.

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See how this small house was expanded

A new deck off the back bedrooms helped design team John Jennings and Sasha Tarnopolsky make the most of their 1,100-square-foot home.

The deck, made from Ipe wood, acts as extensions of the living areas, a private outdoor retreat, and a graceful, 3-step transition to the garden.

A deck off this cabin near Twisp, Wash. adds yet another room to a small home filled with creative living spaces.

Concrete steps off the deck extend the house further, leading to another hang-out space on the granite rocks below.

See more of this small house that lives large

This home's floor sits 3½ feet above ground, so the deck needed to provide a gradual descent into the garden.

Seven steps connect the deck's three levels to a small ground-level patio with a portable fireplace.

There's seating on the top and bottom levels, and storage beneath the deck for the couple's canoes.

More ideas from this deck project

The deck in this Jackson Hole home acts as an extension of the living room.

""In the summertime," says owner Eric Logan, we wake up, open up the house, and it stays open ― with the girls (Isabel, 5, and Olivia, 1) and the dogs running in and out all day."

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This L-shaped deck is a tropical escape off a master suite. Architects Ken Payson and Peg Denney designed the serene space as part sitting area off the bedroom, part spa off the bathroom.

The fir deck is painted spruce gray to complement the periwinkle stucco walls screening the hot tub.

A low redwood bench along the deck’s outer edge is supported by horizontal cylinders of steel pipe bolted to the framing.

Design: PaysonDenney Architects, Santa Fe and Santa Monica (800/927-8551)

David Polifko transformed his backyard with three decks of different sizes, at three different levels.

A deck also wraps around an 8-feet-square teahouse, angled to fit a tight corner.

See more pictures of his decks and garden

Two varieties of bamboo (green canes and black) act as a privacy screen along the back fence, while Pittosporum undulatum and a bronze-leafed Japanese maple shade the corners.

Design: Greg Unti, Bella Vita Garden Design, San Francisco (415/ 648-0100)

Measuring 6 feet by 9 feet, this former light well functions as an outdoor shower off a master bedroom in a San Francisco Victorian. A tall outside wall hides it from view; you get to it through French doors.

After owners Alison and David Cameron moved in, they hired a plumber to hook up the shower. The redwood 2-by-6 decking serves as duckboard: water trickles between the boards and falls to a lower area with a drain.

The deck opens to the sky and makes a welcoming, wind-sheltered location for houseplants that periodically come out for a shower of their own. A shelf along one wall provides extra space for smaller plants.