It seems like you will need some on-site professional advice. I'm no where near that, so can just add some reactions. Your home appears large and a large financial investment, so you want to keep things appropriate for the setting and not tacked on here and there. The low level by the basement is not very easy to "connect" well with the high deck so as to have the 2 spaces function really well together. The other side yard that is a higher elevation seems the most natural area for spillover from a large gathering and I would be tempted to develop that space preferentially, even if it requires some privacy screening from the front view of the property. However, if the basement room--whatever you will be making that in to--is a key action zone that will be highly related to outdoor activities, then maybe you do want to develop that walkout area more. A hot tub under that deck doesn't seem very appealing. So, to come up with the best design, you may need to flesh out your activities and traffic flow a bit more to see what is most rational from that standpoint and then factor in the $$ cost of various solutions. Also prioritize--you are trying to do this--decide if pleasant seating out of the rain is most impt, or heating in cool but clear weather, or being in hot tub, etc. I'm not sure you can build a fireplace on the deck proper, if that's what you meant.

My fig tree is in 4th year and growing well. This year it went from 4 feet to 8 feet and produced many figs in late Oct. I have covered it in past years. Should I do the same each year? If so what can I use to cover such a large plant? It is in the south east corner of my home in a boxed out alcove, protected on 2 sides, with two 3' other plants in front of it. What do you think. Thank you.

As I mentioned just a few postings further back, I have in fact already a man-made perch at 7' height where birds line up to bathe/drink. I had more bird stuff included in previous postings but I subsequently edited most of the bird stuff out to focus on gardening. (Bird forums discuss bird stuff on an on-going basis, this gardening forum is the wrong forum to do that. Please don't ask why I want a living perch, it is in the original post.) You can't boldly prune a dense maple into an airy serviceberry either. I'd rather start with the best (most suitable) materials and work from there. Plans for next spring is "so far out in the future"? Sure, garden plans can change, but I can do nothing in the next 4 or 5 months anyway. Why not advance the plans?

@greenfish1234 Thank you again for your input. I'm attaching a better picture of the back door area. Our door is currently a slider door - not sure if that will be switched in the future to a french door. How far past the door should the steps/landing go? The further we go, the further we cut into that dead space next to our family room wall (to the right of the door). Also, the deeper the total of depth of the steps/landing combined, the deeper the bed gets to the left of the steps/landing, unless we don't make that bed as deep as the steps/landing, but not sure if that will look right. I'm also attaching a pic of landing/steps I found on line. Not that I want curved steps or that material, but was wondering if I could turn that dead space into a raised planter on the landing. That way I can soften that area. If I did this though, not sure how far to bring out the planter - just to the last step, or to the edge of the back of the family room wall. In this pic, their dead space is probably 1/2 that of mine.