8 Ideas to Upgrade Your Decking

Whether it’s a back garden patio, terrace, or holiday home addition, decking is a great way to extend your living space into the outdoors, where you can enjoy the sun and fresh air.

However, depending on how long it’s been since your decking was first installed, your outside space might look and feel a little worse for wear. If it’s been a while, but you don’t really know what to do with your tired decking, this blog is here to help.

Read through our list of ways to update your decking below – with these tips as inspiration, you could elevate your decking to its full potential this summer!

1. Spruce up wooden parts

The most obvious way to improve your dull decking boards is to wash and refresh them.

First, give the wooden boards a good scrub or use a pressure washer to remove years of built-up dirt quickly – just make sure you use the right water pressure and avoid bleach, so you don’t accidentally damage your decking.

The next step is to either stain or paint your decking, depending on the look you want to go for. This could be a lighter or darker natural-looking wood stain, or a solid paint colour like a clean bright white or a more neutral green.

Don’t forget to also apply a sealant to preserve your decking against damp, rot, and pests.

2. Replace old deck railings

Whether it’s raised off the ground or not, decking usually has railings running around the outer edge for both safety and decorative reasons.

If your decking base is fine, but you have wooden balusters or spindles that look faded or dated, then it could be time to replace them with something more fashionable. For example, metal balustrades will stand out against the wood for a contemporary style.

Alternatively, for the ultimate modern upgrade that can make your decking feel more open thanks to the improved view, you could choose toughened glass for your decking balustrade.

A frameless glass balustrade would make your decking look as sleek as possible, but they can also be combined with metal posts and handrails. Just replacing your decking railings this way can make the entire area seem brand new.

3. Disguise ‘dead’ spaces

Something that can make a deck area feel messy and unfinished is ‘dead’ space – which you have no real use for, but remains very visible.

For example, if your decking is raised even a couple of feet from the ground, the exposed space underneath it may appear unsightly when you’re looking right at it. You can hide this using deck skirting, which also helps to keep animals out.

Even if you already have deck skirting in place, this could be another opportunity for an upgrade. There are plenty of different materials and layout patterns to choose from, be it wooden, vinyl, or even obscure glass panels around the foot of your deck.

This otherwise ‘dead’ space can become a decorative extension of your decking style and serve as a backdrop for flowerbeds or planters lining the area.

4. Incorporate some greenery

Fill in empty areas and accentuate the landscape and view beyond with various forms of greenery – providing a stronger connection between the deck and the rest of the outdoor area.

Adding plants on or around your decking will help to breathe new life and colour into the space, so spending time there feels like you’re surrounded by serene nature.

Regardless of the shape, size, or layout of your decking, you should be able to find ways to incorporate foliage and flowers. As mentioned above, you could border your decking with flowerbeds, shrubs, or planters, or position potted plants on the deck itself.

Maybe you could wrap climbing plants – real or fake – around a trellis or pergola to bring your greenery up beyond eye level, or add hanging plants or flower baskets.

5. Add more outdoor lighting

Lighting is one of the most impactful elements of any room design, and the same goes for outdoor lighting – which you’ll need if you want to enjoy your deck after the sun goes down.

Though you’ll need adequate lighting for safety at night, it’s not just about the practical aspect. A well-designed outdoor lighting scheme is essential for creating a cosy ambience and setting the mood for social gatherings or evening downtime.

String lights are a staple for atmospheric hang-out spaces, whether you drape fairy lights around the deck or hang rows of Edison bulbs overhead. You can also add decorative lanterns or LED candles to tabletops or flat handrails or use uplights or downlights on the wall of the house.

It’s important that the edges of the deck and any steps or staircases are also illuminated to avoid trips and falls – solar-powered stake lights around the perimeter can help with this.

6. Install a pergola for shade

One way to make your deck feel like an open-air room, as part of the ‘outdoor living’ trend, is to assemble some kind of architectural structure over the deck area.

This could be something minimal like a retractable awning attached to the building or a sun shade sail connected to support points with taut rope, helping to create at least partial cover against the sun or even rain, so you can sit outside comfortably at any time.

However, if you would prefer to have more of a statement structure, a pergola is the popular choice at the moment. Constructed with vertical posts supporting horizontal beams in a kind of overhead lattice, pergolas make eye-catching additions to any deck.

They’re also ideal for winding vines or string lights around the posts and cross-beams, or hanging pretty plant baskets and lanterns from above.

7. Include comfortable seating

A furniture upgrade can transform the appearance and usefulness of your decking, especially if your current furnishings are a bit weather-beaten and unappealing to sit on.

Every outdoor space needs comfortable seating, whether you will mostly use the area to relax by yourself, dine al fresco, or entertain family and friends. Choose fashionable new furniture to meet your needs, from bistro sets to PVC lounge chairs with stylish cushions.

Sectional deck furniture is great for creating conversation areas around a table for food and drinks, which doubles as a lounge area just for you when you don’t have guests.

Be sure to choose furniture that not only fits in with your outdoor aesthetic but is also durable enough to withstand the British weather – such as metal, treated wood, and synthetic rattan.

Likewise, soft furnishings should be UV-resistant and either waterproof or easy to put away if it suddenly rains.

8. Create a scenic focal point

Cluttered furnishings or impractical layouts can be a hindrance to a functional and aesthetically pleasing deck, so it’s a good idea to arrange everything around a focal point.

This single point, whether that’s a decorative coffee table or a fire pit/heater, can differ depending on your needs – but every home should have one.

Similarly, there should always be a clear path between the door to the building and the steps down to the ground beyond the decking, creating a smooth flow of foot traffic.

Finally, you should also be aware of the view looking out from the seating area, as this will be what you and your guests will be looking at every time you use the outdoor space.

This is where several of the aforementioned garden installations can help – e.g. glass balustrades providing an unobstructed view or pergolas with posts framing the landscape.

Flowerbeds or planters around the decking and strategic outdoor lighting can also work together to highlight the scenery at any time of day or night.

Update your decking and enjoy!

Whether you take on every transformation tip on this list or just combine a few of them, each one alone can make a big difference to the look and feel of your decking area.

The best time to tackle a decking makeover is early spring, when the worst of the winter weather is over and you have enough time to complete your decking upgrade before the summer, so you’re free to enjoy your updated outdoor space and host garden get-togethers.

However, it’s never too late to make changes to any aspect of your home where an overhaul is overdue – so why not get started today and make the most of your decking ASAP?