Yes it is a very shady area. We plan to have the trees trimmed (long over due) to help open it up a bit. I was leaning towards gravel, but have been reading that home buyers see it as a maintenance issue not to mention difficult to walk on. My only issue with stone (or pavers) is the expense. Are there any ideas how to stretch my dollar on a project like this? We are very capable DIYers so we will save money there.

Even though deck wood is usually costly, i would do a raised deck area if I were you. I added a small deck area that is one step up from a concrete patio and I love it! Glad you said you were trimming the trees.....even though shady is wonderful, it will only help keep that area moist longer.
You could keep your eyeballs open on craigslist for left over flagstone material etc. to make a path to the deck and from the deck. That would give it some personality. I'm a poor DIYer, so I am always on the lookout for materials from other jobs that people don't need.
Once you add some chairs and some potted plants on the deck, that should be very enjoyable.

Even with the trees trimmed, I'd advise against a deck, to the point where if you were my client I'd pass on the job. Ground level decks are always iffy and between the L of the house and the wall, you're not moving any air, even if you were a foot off the ground to the bottom of framing (which would mean approx 18-24" to top of deck, which would make getting from the house to the deck... interesting)

Anyhow, patios. Gravel patios and walks are hard to walk on because people do them wrong. 6" of pea gravel is going to be like running on sand dunes. We do 4-6" of compacted gravel (what's sold as 21A/ABC stone/C9/crusher run, depending where you live), and by that I mean renting a plate compactor (~$80/day) and getting it like concrete. Then we do 1" of the decorative gravel, be it pea gravel, 3/8" chip gravel, whatever. Always have some sort of edging material in place before you start adding gravel.

As far as pavers, take a trip to your local stone yard and price things out. Here's what you'll need to put together a shopping list:

(___) sq ft of Mirafi (filter fabric) between the soil and the aggregate
(___) tons of 21A/crusher run (SQ FT x 0.5 (6" depth) /27 = cu yds; cu yds x 1.8 = tons)
(___) tons of bedding sand
(___) sq ft of pavers
(___) bags of polymeric sand
(___) linear feet of edge restraint
(___) 1/2" steel spikes

I have no idea what people pay for these things retail so I'm afraid I'm not much help there, but the stone yard can help you. If you go with gravel you'll need to know these #s anyhow.

Hi!
You can definitely make great use of your garden. Because you are surrounded with so many trees, I think you need furniture that you can easily move around to enjoy the sunlight.
For example, the rolling bench could be a great addition.

Please find bellow the link of the website. Let me know what you think about it.
http://www.rollingbenches.com/

Hi,
I'm about to buy a house in Md area, it is a great house but the Crawl space is so damp as the house is in lower lever and next door house drain in my back yard. The question is what can be done to fix the problem I'm willing to pay big cash for the stone work but will it solve the problem?
Thanks

I enjoyed laying down a small sitting area with those square concrete pavers found at Lowe's or Home Depot. I never had a problem with them shifting and they were laid side by side on top of just tamped paver sand surface because it was a small patio area and surrounded by wood edging to keep it from moving. There are better ways to install with gravel layers, then sand, to allow for good drainage. It was very easy for me and the mud pit area turned into an attractively surfaced area. I used these patio pavers:

http://images.lowes.com/product/converted/742786/742786202642.jpg