DESIGN
DECKS
Get Decked Out! DECKS CAN BE AN ALL-AROUND GREAT INVESTMENT FOR ANY HOME.
by Michele Van Der Veen
hen you think home addition, most of the time you’re thinking of adding a bathroom, a bedroom, or enlarging the kitchen. For most people, adding a deck doesn’t come to mind. Yet adding a deck is the least expensive, fastest way to add a large amount of square footage to any home. Well, OK, so the county records may not include the deck space as actual square footage. But any buyer who looks at the home will certainly make a mental note of how large the home feels thanks to the deck. Here are six reasons for getting your next investment home all decked out! 1. OPEN FLOOR PLAN FEEL Wait! An open floor plan feeling? How do decks provide that? Decks provide more access to the outside—and what gives you a better feel of more space than having more access to the outdoors? W
Replacing windows with French doors in a kitchen or dining room creates a more fluid flow of movement around that space. You have just created a more open floor plan by being able to open those doors and step outside. Being able to meander out onto the new deck gives a bigger feel to the entire kitchen and dining room area. You have a sense of being able to step outside at any time, which naturally makes you think the kitchen and dining room area is huge, although you never added an inch of actual square footage to the kitchen or dining room. You merely created what the French would call a “trompe- l’oeil,” or “trick of the eye”! 2. CURB APPEAL Curb appeal is likely the last thing you think about when you consider how a deck will improve your next renovation, or even your own home. The decks of days gone by often had a cabiny feel, lending an almost
50 | think realty magazine :: september - october 2022
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