With temperatures chilling you to the bone, does your mind often wander to the sunny days of spring? Maybe you long for the activities only warm weather can provide, such as outdoor barbecues, sharing ice cream with the kids, or watching the sunset from your favorite Adirondack chair. Many of these cherished activities center around one area of the home: the outdoor deck.

If your house doesn't have a treated wood or composite lumber deck, or perhaps the one you have leaves something to be desired, now is the perfect time to take action and make a plan. That way, when warm weather arrives, you're ready to start building and can enjoy every moment outdoors.

If you're not quite sure what your dream deck should look like, you can find inspiration by looking through photo galleries of different decks. Explore the Latitudes Composite Decking and Railing photo gallery and the Deckorators deck railing and deck accessories gallery to see a sampling of many deck products and design options that are available.

For the past couple years, Deckorators has held a deck design contest, drawing entries from across the country from both builders and DIYers. Submissions for the contests can be viewed on the Flickr page here for still more idea generation, as well as motivation to enter your new deck into this year’s contest. Additions to Latitudes products and Deckorators products for 2012 have been added online, so there are plenty of new things to incorporate into your final dream deck design. This year’s contest details will be announced soon!

When it comes to designing your deck, the possibilities are endless. Seeing examples and putting together a solid plan is the first step toward getting ready for the warm days of spring.

See this blog for features to consider when creating an outdoor living space on a deck.

Start designing your dream deck with an online deck design program.