Ig you are trying to keep costs minimal I would suggest a simple wood deck right to the brick wall and to the corner of the house. You might need a short railing at the front right of it since it would be a good sized drop off, but the left side would be ground level and you could step off easily.

^^ grr first would should be 'if'. I would build it right over the concrete slab you have now.

Or build a simple PVC frame and fill in with gravel.

brickIn can you expand on the idea of a PVC frame please? We will be putting a table and chairs on whatever we build.

Motownmom, the rest of the backyard is pretty level, but all of the bedroom windows are on the back wall of the house so I'm worried about noise level for our sleeping kiddo if we have friends over eg tv. I bvgtd

Wow, not sure what happened at the end of that last comment! Anyway, when we grill out, I'd like to be in close proximity to the kitchen (the back door) as well.

This is a simple deck to do. Looking at the picture. Dig some holes with a post hole digger on the right side by the brick wall. Get some ready mix or quick dry concrete, depending on the size deck you want figure your lumber. I would use 4x4 pressure treated posts to put in the holes with the concrete. Attach a 2x10 to the side of the house all pressure treated lumber. Run a string line from the top of your 2x10 to your 4x4 posts and level. You will need to put a couple in the front and back as well a total of 7 to 8 eight foot 4x4s should be enough. Then attach 2x10x10s or 2x10x12s for what ever size deck you want from the house to the 4x4 posts and screw in with stainless steel screws. A cordless impact drill and a sawzaw will be your best friends. Now your frame and support are done and your ready to cover with what ever you want. We used 4x8 sheets of pressure treated 1/2 inch plywood on our guest house and the deck is 10x52 and works great. Once you cut around your 4x4s with your plywood you can use 2x6s to run along to creat a face rail. Then figure how tall you want your top rail and cut your 4x4s off and cap with 2x6s and your done. I'm guessing around 300.00 to do this job. A simple two step up from your concrete slab and a 2 or 3 step down on the other side will be fine. I would put the exit steps on the back side of the house towards the white siding so they would be at right angles to each other. we will send some pics good luck

pics of deck

Similar to a raised gardening bed or retaining wall, jess. Something to keep the gravel from shifting or washing away. I suggested PVC because it won't rot. If you want a more even surface, you could do a top layer of sand and add pavers or slate.