Alternate Two Similar Colors Of Deck Board For A Totally Unique Deck Look
The deck boards you choose will dramatically impact the look and feel of your deck. One pro tip to really set your deck apart from the neighborhood: use more than one color of deck board for an even more unique deck design.
Let's take a look at this deck, which combines two different colors of TimberTech deck boards in a randomized pattern for a look that's unique, woodsy, and luxurious.
The Look: Multiple Brown Shades For A Totally Unique Deck Design
Follow each tag to the numbered headings below to learn more about each piece of this look.
- Alternating Earth-Toned Deck Boards
- Low-Profile Minimalist Deck Railing
- BONUS: Deck Rail Lighting
- BONUS: Inviting Outdoor Furniture
How To Get This Look
This deck uses some outside-the-box thinking to tie its look and feel to the natural surroundings. Here's how:
Alternating Earth-Toned Deck Boards
Combining two different deck board colors is a surefire way to set your deck apart from the neighborhood. But two-toned deck plans typically create stark divisions between the two colors, like using a primary color for the main deck surface and a secondary color in a clearly-defined picture frame around the deck (like you see below) or a breaker board separating two distinct sections.
This deck flips that style on its head, mixing two different shades of deck board across the entire surface in a randomized pattern:
The result is a beautifully natural look that makes perfect sense: in nature, different colors are rarely separated by distinct boundaries. Similar shades run together in a more organic, free-flowing way, like the varying browns of bark on a tree.
This deck specifically chose two brown TimberTech Composite decking colors to achieve a truly natural wood look - not the processed, uniform look of pressure-treated wood, but the varying shades and tones of live wood in its natural environment.
What makes this especially effective is that both colors come from TimberTech's Legacy Collection, where each board blends an incredibly wide range of natural colors together. Here are the two colors used in this deck:
The result of a random, unpredictable mix of all those earthy brown tones is a really beautiful natural-looking deck. You can see how well it ties to the look of the surrounding trees, truly blending the outdoor living space and the yard.
For a similar brown-toned look, check out all of our Brown deck boards here. Or you can learn more about how to best combine two shades of deck board in our Guide to Deck Board Color Combos.
Shop TimberTech Composite
Low-Profile Minimalist Deck Railing
With the deck board color mix blurring the lines between the outdoor living space and the Great Outdoors, the most important thing this deck railing does is get out of the way. A bulky, eye-catching deck railing would work against that unifying theme, drawing a clear boundary between deck and yard. That's why this deck opts for a minimalist railing that's designed to be unobtrusive.
One great example of a minimalist deck railing is TimberTech RadianceRail Express, which you can see up close below. The posts are noticeably trim, especially compared to other composite railing systems. And the top rail is slim and rounded off for clean sight lines.
You can see a close-up of the minimalist top rail of the RadianceRail Express system below in a different color. (The deck we're looking at chose the Pecan brown finish, which is a great low-profile color that matches the decking.)
Shop TimberTech RadianceRail Express
RadianceRail Express isn't the only minimalist deck railing choice - just a good example of one. For a more modern spin on low-profile deck railing, check out any of our metal railing systems, which blend clean lines and earthy textures.
Pro Tip: Any railing system with a bronze finish will blend into a natural setting especially well, because bronze is an organic, natural color, especially when it's textured or hammered to avoid reflecting light.
Shop Metal Railing
BONUS: Deck Rail Lighting
For a deck with this much color detail, lighting can be a key accent to show off the brilliant choice to mix deck board colors. Here are a few ways to easily add lighting and make your deck look even more stunning:
For really bright, functional lighting, TimberTech offers a post-mount light that attaches directly to railing posts and shines light downwards on the deck surface.
These Accent Rail Lights come in a range of colors to match the finish of your deck railing. These images show the white finish, but for the deck in question, an architectural bronze light would fit the natural, blend-into-the-background vibe.
A lower-profile option is to mount lights underneath the top rail of your railing:
This creates a warm, inviting ambiance for your deck, but also softens the light. That'll mean a little less total illumination, but maintaining more of that link to the soft dusk light of the surrounding natural setting.
TimberTech Under Rail Lights are easy to wire, and attach underneath your top rail with two simple screws.
Of course, you can combine multiple types of lighting for the best of both worlds and use your deck late into the night. The TimberTech deck lighting options are endless and made to pair perfectly with TimberTech deck railings or TimberTech deck boards or stair riser boards.
Shop TimberTech Lighting
BONUS: Inviting Outdoor Furniture
One more way to create a calming, inviting outdoor space is to furnish your deck with comfortable places to sit - ideally, pieces that don't require a lot of regular maintenance or protection from the outdoor elements.
TimberTech Outdoor Furniture is a perfect example. TimberTech's entire Invite Collection is designed to be totally comfortable without the need for upholstered cushions or pillows that need to brought indoors anytime it rains.
With soft, earthy brown deck tones underfoot, the warmth of TimberTech's Coral color can be a compatible contrast, making your furniture stand out as an accent piece without clashing.
To blend in, TimberTech offers some more subtle options, too, like the gray Storm color or the off-white Canvas finish.
Storm:
Canvas:
Here are the available options for furniture in the TimberTech Invite Collection:
Adirondack Chair:
Mingle Bench:
Aside Table:
Conversation Table:
Shop TimberTech Furniture
Inspired? See More
Browse Decking Photo Gallery
Browse Railing Photo Gallery
Learn more about the basics of deck framing and building in our Deck Framing Guide and learn deck parts and terminology in the DecksDirect Glossary of Deck Terms and Lingo.
Browse more deck design and railing style notes to upgrade your backyard space and deck in the DecksDirect Railing Style Guide: the quickest way to learn if your home is more suited for a classic aluminum deck railing or a showstopping cable rail setup.
The more you know, the better your deck and backyard projects will be! Whether you're looking at a brand new project, a deck update, or a style refresh, give our deck project planners a call at 1-888-824-5316 or send us an email at hello@decksdirect.com. Our experienced team will help you get the information, products, and tools you need for an awesome deck completely personalized to your needs!
