Picture this: a backyard sanctuary that invites you to lounge with a good book, grill with a cold drink in hand, and laugh with friends over a home-cooked meal. This outdoor living space expertly blends style, innovation, and function. It looks and feels like an extension of your home-not an afterthought.

What if we told you this daydream can become a reality, and building this reality is feasible? Below, we break down three high-impact ways to extend your home's interior style to your open-air entertainment space.

1. Extend the aesthetics of your home’s interior to your deck. With innovations in composite and PVC decking, your backyard can look like a continuation of your hardwood floor, sweeping house guests from indoors to out without interruption. For example, Fortress® Apex™, a PVC decking line, employs a proprietary tri-extrusion process that delivers the rich look of tropical hardwoods, much like one would find in a coastal kitchen or living room.

Pro-Tip: Homeowners can also literally bring the indoors out by configuring comfortable furniture for additional deck seating, styling an outdoor bar cart, and setting out throw blankets and pillows for pops of colour. An added benefit, composite and PVC deck boards are UV, scratch- and moisture-resistant, so you can spend more time lounging on your deck furniture instead of performing deck maintenance.

2. Use deck lighting solutions to add whimsy ambiance to your outdoor living space. Recessed into stair treads, crowning posts, defining access points and positioned on railings, strategically placed FortressAccents™ deck lighting guide homeowners safely up steps, signal elevation changes, define perimeters and gently illuminate entertaining areas.

Pro-Tip: Add string lights and lanterns to create an extra warm and inviting outdoor living area.

3. Gone are the days of boring railing solutions. Railing Solutions on the market today, such as Al¹³ HOME™, provides homeowners with increased design flexibility with a wide variety of infill options such as cable, picket, and glass. The railing system can then be finished to match personal style preferences, with options for a rich premium powder coating in various colour options to complement your composite or PVC decking. Additionally, some manufacturers deliver railing post caps that integrate LED lighting, delivering safety and style in one fold.

Pro-tip: To further increase hosting potential in an outdoor living space, consider bringing composite or PVC deck boards to the top railing for a wider spot to place drinks or lean into a good conversation. The Al¹³ HOME™ system offers one heck of a drink rail, as well-like it was designed for backyard entertaining.

With so many product options for backyard design, our homes and outdoor living spaces are able to become as individualistic as we are. Our goal at Fortress is to continue providing the total solution to homeowners and builders alike, and in doing so, make it possible for you to create an outdoor space that looks and feels like not only an extension of your home but also an extension of you. To gather more outdoor living design tips and inspiration, visit fortressbp.com.