Five ways to transform any deck project into a true outdoor living space

This is a sponsored post by Deckorators.

Decks have been popular for decades, but with advances in low-maintenance materials and more people looking to spend time outdoors, the demand for decks has exploded. Homeowners, especially younger clients, are willing to invest serious money into their backyards. However, they want more than a deck – they want a true outdoor living space.

Here are five ways to separate yourself from your competition and garner more demand from the clients you want to work for.

1: Add a Privacy Wall
Privacy walls not only offer the obvious benefit of privacy from your neighbours, but they also make your deck feel more like an outdoor living space. Privacy walls give you the opportunity to get creative and make a statement with a unique design. Using low-maintenance materials like Deckorators make it easy to build and even easier for clients to maintain!

2: Incorporate Outdoor Lighting
Most clients look forward to retreating to their new outdoor living space after a long day at work or having friends and family over for a relaxing evening. That means the majority of the time, their deck will be used in the dark! Lighting is one of the most overlooked features of a deck project, but one of the most functional and esthetically pleasing. Low-voltage lighting provides great ambient light to set the mood and maintain safety, especially on stairs. Lighting is very easy to install and a great upsell opportunity for all your deck projects.

3: Design a Decorative Inlay
New product technology means new possibilities, especially for inlays on the surface of your deck. My crew loves to use Deckorators Voyage Decking for creative inlays because it has virtually no thermal expansion and contraction. Adding features like this will make your client feel like they are getting a product that is truly unique and designed specifically for them. Your clients will be willing to pay for special inlays, making them the envy of their friends and neighbors.

4: Build a Custom Bar Top Seating Area
I incorporate a lot of bar top seating into our projects. It not only looks awesome, but it adds a lot of additional seating without taking up much room. A built-in bar may offer seating for five-six with barstools, whereas that much seating takes up two or three times the amount of space on a sectional or conversation set. Add in a custom drink trough and it will sell itself!

5: Combine All of the Above and More!
The sky is the limit with outdoor living spaces, and the more features you can incorporate into a deck project the better. People are staying home more than ever, and the idea of traveling for vacation seems like a distant memory. People want to vacation at home every day, and if you can separate yourself from the competition by turning your deck projects into outdoor living spaces, the cheques will basically sign themselves!