A pic would help. With an 8 x 10 space you should be able to add some comfortable furniture, and if you don't make it comfortable you'll never use the area. Post over on the Home Decor forum for more suggestions. Lots of folks over there have decorated their decks.

Sorry I posted friday evening and was out of town over the weekend. My problem is I am not liking the dining sets sold because I am looking for something modern and those are only wood. DH doesn't want anything wood. I love the wicker conersation sets with white cushions so that it will bring a pop but it will not be good for MI weather. Maybe I could try buying a red cushion wicker set from Walmart and put some bright pillows along with a bistro set or use a folding table with plastic chairs for this year for a big party. What do you all think this set for my deck. I have pasted the link below.Thanks for all your help. Nanbella and Lizbeth-gardner: Thank you for the suggestion to not go white. It makes me think that it will not belong there. Roarah: I love your blue chairs with metal frame. It is beautiful. I will check out homedepot. DH doesn't want us to do wood. Otherwise teak will be a great idea because they have a lot of modern furniture for dining in teak. jab65: My costco doesn't have patio furniture anymore. I will check craigslist too. cyn247 and chemocurl: Maybe I have to wait for next spring. Because most of the stores are almost out of patio furniture. I could try using a folding table with table cloth for my large party this year. Annz: That is a geat suggestion to bring the pop of color from cushions and flowers. Here is a link that might be useful: Furniture which I like but very expensive

It is common to create landscape/garden beds in areas bounded by walk on one side and a building on the other. But here, it wouldn't be a good idea to make full beds on both side of the walk, because the walk is too narrow to be confined by plantings. Honestly, though, we would need to see a broader picture because we can't tell where the building walls end and that would make a difference as to what beds you might install. For now, you could be confident that adding sod along the edge of the pavers is a good way to finish off the patio. Remove the sand that feathers into the lawn and replace it with topsoil that comes to an inch below the pavers and blends into existing grade. Lay sod on that. Add a little more topsoil to the outside edge of the sod (where it meets grass) such that the feathering to the surrounding grade continues. When the grass grows, it will end up being a smooth transition.

The house we bought had two additional concrete pads added to either side of the original deck. It was originally brushed concrete, but we painted it with concrete paint - Valspar Smoky Olive. I chose this color because it felt like a good continuity color between the house and yard and worked well with the brick exterior (The house is wrapped in a copper/brown brick palette). For me, it created a consistent color palette that we've accented with red, gray, tan and espresso. It reads gray in the pictures, but if you saw the concrete before, this is so much better and more so in real life. Not everyone's going to approve of paint because it can chip and you have to re-do it or touch it up. But there are so many options I can imagine the really pretty color for around the deck to complement the pool and make it feel fun, light, and airy. You can tint any Valspar (or any brand) outdoor concrete paint. I'm not suggesting this color for your situation. Just providing for context since it's so bright outside the color doesn't read as green/olive.