Top Deck Design Trends For 2022
Amid an ongoing pandemic, deck life has never been more impactful than it is today - and deck design options are exploding as a result. Where is deck life going in the year 2022? Stay ahead of the curve with DecksDirect’s 2022 insights:
Table of Contents:
- Top Deck Design Trends For 2022
Life as we know it continues to adjust to the weirdness of a pandemic that just keeps hanging on. The ebbs and flows of infection rates and new virus variants have disrupted indoor gatherings, travel, and holiday celebrations.
But while much of life in 2021 has been far from predictable, one trend has never been in doubt: outdoor living has continued to become a more and more vital escape for pandemic-weary Americans.
The Great Outdoors offer two sorely-needed benefits amid a pandemic: relaxation and consistency.
Pandemic-related stress is getting to us all. Nearly two years after the coronavirus first upended all of our lives, patience has begun to fade into weariness. More than ever, we all need a place to unwind, to let go of our stress and enjoy the things that bring us joy. Sitting on a deck or patio with family and friends, sipping a hot coffee or a tall glass of wine - there’s no better way to let the stress float away on the breeze.
Perhaps the biggest stressor? The constant changes of the past two years. Ever-changing policies on group gatherings, mask rules, major events and quarantine lengths. Bouncing back and forth between in-office and remote work - not to mention distance learning and live classes for school-aged kids.
But outdoor living has become the refuge you can count on to stay consistent. A deck is an oasis where we can all spend time with the ones we love, even while staying safe and socially-distanced.
All this is to say that moving into 2022, deck design continues to expand the options each of us has to tailor our outdoor living space to our priorities. More than ever, a deck is an expansion of your home - another “room” designed for comfort and safety at the same level as an indoor living space.
Here are four key deck design trends we see on the horizon for 2022:
1. Bringing indoor design outdoors
Decks are becoming more and more an extension of our indoor living spaces - both in function and design.
As we start to spend less time cooped up indoors and more time enjoying our beautiful decks, it only makes sense to start bringing the comforts and privacy of the indoors to our outdoor environment.
A deck is just a living room without walls and a ceiling - but what if you could have the privacy of the indoors and the natural beauty of the outdoors. With a well-placed privacy panel, your deck can gain the privacy and seclusion of an indoor room without giving up the sights, sounds, and smells of nature. Privacy panels are perfect for creating a cozy outdoor space where you can still soak up the sun and feel the breeze in your hair.
But outdoor spaces can also benefit from a ceiling, of sorts. Under Deck Drainage systems are an easy upgrade with a huge return on investment. Creating a cozy, dry, finished space underneath your deck effectively doubles your deck space. It also creates protection from rain, allowing you to bring more indoor elements outdoors - things like comfy pieces of cushioned furniture, throw blankets, or decorations to match your indoor look.
A few more ways to bring the comfort of the indoors to your outdoor space: pergola systems for cover from sun and rain, and screen systems to protect from pesky insects.
2. Advanced Deck Board Patterns, Including Multi-Width Boards
The world of deck design is exploding with creativity heading into 2022. While the classic, single-width deck board layout remains a great, easy-install option, deck owners are looking for new ways to set their decks apart.
Homeowners spend years beautifying the inside of their homes, carefully crafting the decor, furniture and color patterns to fit their individual styles. Now, that same thoughtful artistry can carry a well-tailored interior design scheme outdoors to the deck.
Deck board layouts like picture-framing (also called race-tracking) have long been indicators of sharp, well-designed decks. As deck design moves forward, more complex patterns like the herringbone are becoming a good way to set a deck apart from the neighborhood.
But the latest trend is variable-width deck boards, which can give an eye-catching new look to any established deck board pattern.
Traditional deck boards are about 5-1/2 inches wide. But modern design is expanding to include narrow-width boards (at 3-1/2 inches) and extra-wide boards (at up to 7-1/4 inches). Using different-width boards on the same deck allows for classically cool pinstripe patterns. But multi-width boards also allow you to add a new flair to any other pattern, from diagonal stripes to tile looks.
Give our team of deck project planners a call to design a deck layout all your own. We love planning deck projects - and we especially love helping customers design deck layouts that feel like a work of art! We’ll make sure you get all the right materials for the job, including the right amounts of each board width, and installation tools that will work on wide or narrow boards.
3. Prioritizing fire safety
Viruses aren’t the only safety concern affecting life in 2022. Fire safety is a growing consideration across the country, especially on the West Coast and in areas affected by forest fires.
Fortunately, deck design is adapting quickly. The biggest evolution in deck-building is a shift to steel framing systems. As opposed to traditional treated lumber deck frames, steel framing offers the best in fire safety, ensuring that your deck frame won’t be a fire hazard or contribute to flame spread.
Fortress Evolution Steel Framing was recently given a Class A Fire Safety Rating from the National Fire Protection Association. That’s the most stringent fire safety rating that’s available for building materials.
And it’s not just framing. Composite decking technology is rapidly expanding to improve fire safety. TimberTech AZEK’s Vintage Collection, for example, has earned a Class A flame spread rating in a major advance for decking materials. Meanwhile, Trex’s Transcend and Select lines are Class B fire rated to help protect against flame spread.
Many local jurisdictions are tightening building codes to require fire-safe materials. Choosing steel framing and fire-safe decking ensures that your deck will not just meet codes but offer the best protection for your home and guests.
4. Using composite deck boards creatively on railing and cladding
Rapid advances in both the beauty and functionality of composite deck boards has prompted the question: what else can composite deck boards do?
As homeowners look to add function to their decks while extending their visual style, composite decking is proving a versatile tool.
Using a composite deck board as a drink rail atop a railing setup, a popular trend in recent years, is just the beginning. As sleek, modern railings with continuous top rails grow in popularity, drink rails are a natural pairing. When using a composite board as a drink rail, you get the added bonus of either perfectly matching your decking, or choosing a complementary color for a brilliant contrast.
Building on that idea, deck builders have started using deck boards in even more creative ways heading into 2022. Composite deck boards as cladding on vertical surfaces is rapidly growing, with major decking brands starting to offer their own lines of cladding-ready boards.
Composite deck boards can also form brilliant privacy panels that look like a true extension of your deck surface, as shown to the right. And deck boards can also be repurposed to make benches - with all the time we’re spending outdoors these days, everyone can use extra seating for safe, outdoor gatherings.
Creating Your Own 2022 Trends
If you’re looking to rejuvenate your outdoor space for 2022, DecksDirect is going to be your best friend in the new year. We have a team of professional project planners who are beyond passionate about the creative deck design options out there - and we’d love to help you plan a new deck design all your own.
When you give us a call at 1-888-824-5316, you can expect a few important things:
A real person with deck project planning experience: we don’t shuffle you through a complex phone system or pass you to a pushy salesperson. When you call DecksDirect, you’ll reach a real, live deck project planner who will first get to know you and your goals, then help you build a project to fit you. And our consultations are all free! Get an estimate from our in-house estimating team and we'll help you figure out the next steps to your dream deck.
The largest in-stock selection: we want to design your deck to be uniquely you. That’s why we carry the largest stock of deck stuff anywhere. Period. We’ll guide you through our huge storehouse of options, looks, styles, and functions - and because we carry the most items in-stock, you won’t have to wait for your dream product on backorder.
Completely fast: we’re completely fast in all we do - quick to return your calls, speedy to process an estimate, and blazing fast to pack up your items and ship them directly to your doorstep. Dream up your deck, then see it come to life: we cut out the wait.