Timber decks are amazingly versatile and can be adapted to suit a variety of purposes and functionalities. This is why they are much sought after and why they add so much value to your property. Of course a decks usefulness can be limited by its size and structure. But if you have a robust imagination (and the budget to match) you could build a deck that can function any way you need it to. Here are a few ways decks can be absolutely — and even unexpectedly — useful and functional.
The Deck As Living Space
The point of building a timber deck is to blur the line between indoors and outdoors, to let you enjoy one without sacrificing the other. You achieve this by equipping the deck with the comforts of your home and therefore allowing it to function as an extension of your living space.
The Deck As Garden
There are very few things that delight the senses more than a lush and healthy garden. And besides the visual appeal presented by a well-tended garden, tending to it gives you many other tangible benefits as well.
Tending to a garden is great for your health because you spend active time outdoors. Gardening relieves stress, helps you maintain a positive outlook and can be a rich source of social interaction between you and your family and friends.
It’s fortunate that your deck is a great place to get into gardening. Working outdoors does have its fair share of dangers — too much sun can cause health issues and dehydration; and insect bites can be annoying, or even worse. The deck gently transitions into the outdoors, easing you into the environment and providing a buffer against the dangerous elements that nature can throw at you.
Of course, gardening on the deck is slightly different from tending a real garden out in the yard. For starters, you can’t plant directly on the deck. So you’ll need to place plant containers and build plant boxes within the deck.
The Deck As a Social Venue
The timber deck is a great place for entertaining guests. The proximity to the outdoors — and quite possibly a great view — is a relaxing element that will surely stimulate social interaction. Psychologists tell us that most people (though there are some who claim not to) seek the acceptance, presence and comfort of others to feel fully alive and fulfilled. It’s a good thing, then, that your deck provides you and your guests to find fulfillment through social activity.
The Deck As Sanctuary
There are times when you just want to get away from all the hustle and the bustle of everyday life. Not permanently, of course, but to be able to get a short respite from the stresses of daily living goes a long way toward keeping your sanity. The deck can be that fortress of solitude that insulates you from the pressures and rigours of life. Build in a pool or spa to soak your worries away, surround yourself with plants to keep your stress level down and install privacy screens to keep yourself away from unwanted attention and you have the perfect getaway to run to when the going gets tough.
The Deck As Medicine
Laughter may be the best medicine but a timber deck may be all you need to stay healthy. Studies have shown that being surrounded by timber offers the same health benefits as spending time outdoors. When you relax on your deck, you improve your digestion, lower blood pressure and heart rate, strengthen your immune system, clean your lungs, clear your mind, increase your energy level and just plain feel good.
The Deck As Storage Space
Finding space where you can store the stuff you’ve acquired may be a challenge during this day and age. But when you’ve built a raised deck some metres off the ground, you may have actually solved the problem, somewhat. That extra space beneath the deck can go a long way toward providing you with additional storage space. If you have in-built seating you may even use the extra space beneath the seats to stash away items.
