Thanks for all the suggestions so far. Here are a few pics of the current deck. I measured it this morning and it is 14 x 12. I'm thinking the new deck/patio will extend to the bulkhead which is about 32 feet.

I'm open to any and all ideas...

I posted some pics of the current deck and the land. The area gets sun all day because the sun rises to the right of the house and sets to the left. The current deck opens up to French doors from the family room. The kitchen is the next set of windows to the right.

No termites (that I know of), plenty of rain and snow in New England. The grade is fairly level.

My vote is for a paver stone patio. They look beautiful when finished with some landscaping!

:iagree: UCrewX5 did his last year and the rear of his house is very similar to yours with regard to grade and height of the door relative to the ground. http://ucrew.net/patio.htm

JV

One of my favorite tv shows is Ground Breakers on HGTV. It's one of the best "outdoor remodeling" shows on tv. You can get a lot of patio/deck/landscaping ideas!!

Michelle, great site with some interesting ideas. I have so many questions:

How do you decide between a patio or deck?

What costs more a patio or deck (in general). Does anyone know the approximate cost per square foot. I think I will have around 450 sq. ft.

Does a patio or deck add more resale value?

What is less maintenance - a patio or a deck?

What are the best features to implement into a patio or deck design to help assure that it will get used a lot?

Looks great! Have you finished landscaping around it?

I am in the middle of finishing a similar project on a smaller scale. 350 sq.ft.

I only had a 10x10 concrete slab, came w/ the house.
1) From there I've painted the concrete slab a kakhi color

2) Extended the 'patio area' to 27' x 14' by digging out around the slab down about 4"

3) Had a pergola put up to 'cover' the 27' x 14' area (pergola/arbor: free standing structure mainly for shade and apperance reasons. It's very cool looking and you can get the builder to design it any way you like it. I designed mine to look like this: l=l=l=l=l
l=l=l=l=l
l=l=l=l=l
****Imagine you were looking down on it
The square will be covered w/ Solar Mesh, product takes out 85% of the UV rays keep it nice n' cool in KC 105 degree summers w/ 50% humidity (no dry heat here)

4) The area that is not painted slab will be filled w/ pea gravel 3 1/2 tons to be exact. Within this area I have built individual foundations from pavestones 18"x7.5"x5" and secured them w/ sand grout and leveled w/ sand. This is where the bbq/smoker will be placed.

I have split the area in half one side for cooking/prep the other side for lounging/entertaining. The products that are out there today are so amazing and the cost to make an outdoor living space isn't as much as people thing.

MY Costs: Concrete acid/paint: 40.00
Pergola/Arbor:1100 materials/labor ( I found cheap labor a couple guys were framing a house down the street and I asked them if they wanted to make some extra $$$)
Pavestones/Sand: 60.00
Pea Gravel: 3 1/2 tons = 200.00 delivered
Solar Mesh: 18.00 @ Lowes 48" x 100' ...just staple it down
Outdoor Rug: 80.00 Lowes
TOTAL: 1500.00 a steal when you realize how much you can enjoy it when your done. Now your cost of course will inflate 10x when you buy your furniture/grill/smoker, etc....to make the space 'yours'. ;) Have fun. Do a little hard work you'll enjoy it more. :) Sorry so long..but I'm finishing the grunt work tomorrow on this project so it's all I've been thinking about for the past 2 weeks.

Thanks for the photos..... still could use one from on the deck looking out to see what the view is....

Couple of design things..

If you pave that area then you have to either build some retaining to hold the paving in place on the low side and then build the level up, or cut in on the high side and retain the existing earth to stop it dropping down on to the paving.

Stepping down to a deck/patio doesn't usually have as appealing a feel as walking out onto a nice big deck imo. Ucrew has done a very nice job though.

Visually, you have a barrier in the fence around the space making it a little room in an outdoor area.

You already have a deck, and I would extend what you've got to make it an entertaining/outdoor lounge area.

I am assuming you want lifestyle, so why not bring the outdoors in?

Open up the wall with the door to full width with bi-fold doors as pictured below...

http://xoutpost.com/gallery/files/8/1/DSCF7676.jpg

then extend the deck to allow room for some nice full width timber steps down to the grassed area. I would put the steps on the side with the best view/open space assuming it is from the direction you have taken the pictures from. I say full width steps as they a) open up the barrier, b) are agreat place to sit and natter with guests while cooking a barbecue and c) makes the fact that there is no rail safe.

If you feel that you want to really make it flash, you could then extend a roof out, simply made with timber frame and line the underside as shown below (but larger obviously)...

http://xoutpost.com/gallery/files/8/1/DSCF7670.gif

You could then build in a barbecue/outdoor kitchen and install speakers from your internal sound sytem for outdoor use, with a couple of nice flush mounted down lights for night

In the photo below I have created a boxed look around the base by simply cladding a timber frame with stone.

http://xoutpost.com/gallery/files/8/1/WF0222ac.jpg

In either case I would try to use a more modern perimeter fencing that doesn't tend to restrict you in.

Our styles in Australia (metal glass etc) may not suit your style of housing so my tip would be to go and buy some local pool magazines where they usually show outdoor decks and fencing etc that you could blend into your style.

Cheers

Here's a couple of websites too

http://www.poolspaliving.com/Shop/index.asp
http://www.masonrymagazine.com/3-04/outdoor.html
http://www.hpba.org/consumer/2/OutdoorLiving.shtml
http://www.hpbexpo.com/
http://www.gopatio.com/deck-building-basics/
http://www.concretenetwork.com/concr...tio/index.html

BMERGRL, your project sounds great. Any chance I could talk you into posting a pic or two so we can visualize what you are doing?:)