Deck Inspiration for Fall

Opacity plays a large part in how your finished product will look. If you are not familiar with the term, opacity refers to how much of the natural wood grain you can see when staining decking. The degree of opacity will impact the colors that you choose and the final effect you achieve from your project.

Colors are often a personal choice, but there are some neat tricks you can use to achieve specific effects when painting your deck. There are also many exterior features to consider for your deck painting project. For most homeowners, this type of project is a huge undertaking, so you will want to get it right the first time.

Staining and Opacity

When you use a clear stain, you retain the natural appearance of the wood while still protecting the wood from elemental damage. Color or tone is added and transparency reduced as the degree of opacity increases. There are several common degrees of opacity used in staining that will result in different finishes.

• Translucent stain – Maintains grain and texture while adding a hint of tone to the wood
• Semitransparent stain – Includes more color but will not eliminate the grain and texture in the wood
• Semisolid stain – Used to mask imperfections in the wood, while retaining the most prominent grain and textures
• Solid stain – Almost completely covers grain and textures while eliminating imperfections in the wood

When staining a deck, no matter which opacity and colors you use, it is important to conduct swatch tests on small sections of the deck before continuing with the project. What may seem like the ideal finish in your head will not necessarily translate well in reality.

Basic Color Schemes

Next, you will need to decide how your deck looks in contrast to your house. The colors that you choose for your deck make all the difference at this stage of the project. If you choose a similar shade to your home’s trim, your deck will stand out against the backdrop of your home’s primary color. This color scheme is ideal if you want to draw attention to the structural design of your deck without it looking out of place concerning the rest of your home.

For a more uniform effect, it is better to paint your deck the same shade as your home’s primary color. Doing so will also allow you to highlight features such as fire pits, deck furniture or fittings. However, if you have a specific theme in mind for your deck, you may want to consider colors that complement that theme.

Integrating Color Schemes

Your home and deck furnishings are not the only things to consider when choosing colors for your deck. Your lawn, vegetation, pool, and other landscape fixtures also merit careful consideration. Opting for colors that contrast with landscape features will either enhance or diminish the appearance of those features. Choose your color scheme carefully so that your deck integrates with surrounding features to create the desired effect.

If your deck is small and feels swamped by surrounding features, you can create the illusion of a larger space by using a lighter color scheme. For a smaller feeling of outdoor living space, you may want to use darker tones. However, to make your decking feel cozy when the evenings begin to cool down in fall, colors from the warmer end of the color wheel are the way to go.

Mixed Color Schemes

Using a mixed color scheme for your deck can produce spectacular results. If you have tiered decking, using different colors will allow you to establish separate outdoor living spaces with specific purposes. You can accentuate the design and architecture of your deck by using different colors for floors, steps, and railings. Mixed colors are also useful when attempting to create contrast against multiple landscape features that are adjacent to your deck.

The use of a mixed color scheme is a great way to maintain consistent themes from your home to your deck and leading onto your landscape or poolside area. It is important when using mixed color schemes that the contrasting colors blend naturally from the viewpoint of the observer. You can achieve this by choosing shades that lead the eye through each section of the color scheme.

To help realize your vision, why not consider hiring a professional painting crew? The Arizona Painting Company has a proven track record of customer service excellence. We use open and honest communication to help our customers make even the most complicated painting projects a reality.

For more advice on deck inspiration for fall, place your trust in the Arizona Painting Company to get the job done quickly and professionally, and give us a call today.