Picture this: a backyard sanctuary that invites you to lounge with a good book, grill with a cold drink in hand, and laugh with friends over a home-cooked meal. This outdoor living space expertly blends style, innovation, and function. It looks and feels like an extension of your home—not an afterthought.

What if we told you this daydream can become a reality, and building this reality is feasible? Below, we break down three high-impact ways to extend your home’s interior style to your open-air entertainment space.

1. Extend the aesthetics of your home’s interior to your deck. With innovations in wood-alternative surface boards, your backyard can look like a continuation of your hardwood floor, sweeping house guests from indoors to out without interruption. Homeowners can also literally bring the indoors out by configuring comfortable furniture for additional deck seating, styling an outdoor bar cart, and setting out throw blankets and pillows for pops of color. 

2. Use deck lighting solutions to add whimsy ambiance to your outdoor living space. Recessed into stair treads, crowning posts, defining access points and positioned on railings, strategically placed deck lighting can help guide homeowners safely up steps, signal elevation changes, define perimeters and gently illuminate entertaining areas.

3. Gone are the days of boring railing solutions. Modern deck railing solutions on the market today, such as Al¹³ HOME™, provide homeowners with increased design flexibility with a wide variety of infill options such as cable, picket, and glass. The railing system can then be finished to match personal style preferences, with options for a rich premium powder coating in various color options to complement the surface boards. Additionally, some manufacturers deliver railing post caps that integrate LED lighting, delivering safety and style in one fold.

With so many product options for backyard design, our homes and outdoor living spaces are able to become as individualistic as we are. Our goal at Fortress Building Product is to continue providing proven outdoor living solutions to homeowners and contractors alike, and in doing so, make it possible to create outdoor spaces that look and feel like not only an extension of your home but also an extension of you. To gather more outdoor living design tips and inspiration, follow us on Instagram at @fortressbldgproducts.