We were looking for a clean contemporary look to this yard with an emphasis on its entertainment utility. The previous iteration installed by the builder had a deck with 'no maintenance' memebrane that was shabby and weathered. Railing accross the front of the deck to cut off any flow into the yard and a poorly thought out concrete sidewalk bisecting the lawn area. The yard also sloped steeply to the garage man door making it largely unuseable. -- In response, the deck was torn back to it's frame, reinforced and redecked in a warm hardwood to compliment the existing soffiting. A Treated timber grade beam was built along the perimeter, tiering the yard and mitigating the slope. We capped this in hardwood to match the decking. Additionally, a gasline was plumbed to the back corner of the yard, opposing the deck, where we built a custom gas firepit and natural stone paver patio. Here optimizing space was kept in utmost consideration so as to maximize remaining lawn space. We built the patio and the firepit around a prepurchased outdoor sectional so as to allow for enough space to move in and out and seat 5 without wasting a single square foot. Again, the perimeter was soldier coursed in hardwood to carry the theme. The last key componenet to this yard was a lush tarmac of new turf. The end result is a compact, but highly functional yard, with great entertainment value for summer evenings.