@jck910 Your deck looks lovely!

Lovely home, but I am not wild about the deck color with the brick. An awning would be nice, and won’t darken the interior when it is retracted. For the lower level, an area rug and some seating would look good. Why is there moisture down there on the left side of the photo?

@ShadyWillowFarm This is a condo/townhouse complex and therefore we are tied to the finishes chosen by the condo board. The upper deck is not a solid floor and the rain/snow seeps down to the lower patio.

A word about awnings. Pay attention to where the sun is throughout the day. We installed an awning hoping/assuming it would create nice shade on our western facing deck. Silly us! This picture was taken July 7 at 7pm. The deck is still in full sun and hotter than heck. Plus underneath the awning is even hotter. There is a crank pull-down vertical shade but the awning really traps the heat. It does keep the sun off the kitchen all afternoon which is a good thing. But before you go the expense of an awning make sure you understand how much shade you will get and when.

If your house is southern facing, it'll probably work well. With the western setting sun, the shade just retreats up the house. We sized the awning to fit between the rhododendron and a potential mudroom addition where the stairs are. Someday I may have to start a thread about that!

@emily9972 Thanks for the insight Emily! Your advice is very much appeciated! Your backyard does look very nice.

I would concentrate on furniture and plants.

this article has a bunch of before and after, most of which were simply adding a carpet, nice colorful furniture, vases and plants.

You can add outdoor wall art and use an umbrella over the table.

If your not great with plants you can add color with just big vases or other outdoor décor or get some fake flowers. I bought these for my patio where a real plant wouldn't have gotten enough light to flower. They add the pop of color and look real until winter hits and they are still blooming.

https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B01EM7HUB8/ref=ppx_yo_dt_b_search_asin_title?ie=UTF8&th=1