Looking to take your yard to the next level? Not sure if you want a deck or a porch or a patio? Use this advice to choose an outdoor space that's right for you.

No longer prisoners to cookie-cutter patios and tacked-on builder porches, people are increasingly bringing their daily lives outdoors. As evidence, see the garden rooms and gazebos, courtyards and spas springing up in new construction across the country.

Do you want your outdoor spaces informal or formal, intimate or outgoing? Next, work with your Inside and Out to blend your needs with the world around your house. On the following pages you'll find seven elements to upgrade outdoor living spaces.

 
Deck Top

Attached to a house, a wooden deck gives ready access to fresh air and views. A screen porch makes for bug-free living no matter the season, while a fireplace warms cool evening air.

Features to consider: Suitable for decking, low-maintenance engineered lumber is made of recycled materials. Identify special elements, such as flower boxes, built-in benches, or storage for outdoor toys and tools early in the design process.
Porch Top

 

If you have the right site, nothing is more charming or inviting than a covered porch or porch room. Depending on where it's located, a porch can welcome visitors to your front door or provide a morning or afternoon retreat from the busy world. Bring on the lemonade.

For an outdoor porch, features to consider include: Screens help keep bugs away and ceiling fans help circulate even the slightest breezes. And every traditional porch needs a rocker or swing. A larger overhang will allow you to use the porch during rainy weather and will keep sun an glare off of upholstery.

Indoor porches like this one can be seasonal or year-round, depending on local weather conditions and on your provisions for heating and cooling. Fit a porch with windows that open wide or go for French doors or sliding doors that let light an air into the space.
Patio Top

Whether an intimate hideaway off the master bedroom or an outdoor dining area for the whole family, patios can be as private or public as you want.

Infuse your patio with personality and flavor by treating it as an outdoor room. For example, besides soothing sound, the trickling fountain creates a focal point in the photo shown here.

Features to consider: Built-in seating cuts down on clutter. Landscape lighting and outdoor stereo speakers help set the mood. A small fireplace can hold the evening chill at bay. Consider colored or textured concrete, brick or stone pavers, or even tile for the patio surface.

Pergola Top

 

Not quite as confining or defined as a gazebo, a pergola provides shade and overhead interest to any outdoor area. You can hang baskets, lights, wind chimes, and more from the structure, or train vines to grow up and around it. A pergola can be attached to the house, as shown here, or featured as a separate structure.

Features to consider: Even without plants, placing overhead boards closer together or using wider boards increases the amount of shade a pergola provides. You can also angle the boards to maximize light in the late morning, high noon, or early afternoon. Stringing lights around the structure creates a firefly aesthetic.