Metal Bars

• If you want your deck to have a cool and contemporary feel, consider replacing this standard wooden lattice work with crisp and modern metal bars. Select bars in a rot-iron or stainless steel before you begin planning your deck, and plan your addition around them, ensuring that the deck is the proper height for you to install these bars as they will be much less cut-able than your standard wooden lattice. To ensure that these bars don’t look out of place, make your deck minimalist, selecting a clean and uncomplicated design.
  
  

Vented Covers

• Particularly if the ground under your deck is rocky and generally unattractive, vented covers provide a good option for protecting – and covering – your under deck space. Purchase either pre-made vented covers, which feature wood with vent holes cut into it, or create your own, purchasing sheets of plywood and wooden vents and cutting holes into the plywood into which you can slip these vents. Place these around the base of your deck to cover the under-deck space. To ensure that these vented covers match perfectly with the rest of your deck, paint or stain them to match your other deck woodwork after installation.
  
  

Full-Cover

• While many opt for a vented under-deck option, there is no reason your deck skirting has to have this vent. Instead of a lattice or otherwise vented deck skirt, use sheets of plywood and make your skirting out of these full sheets. To dress them up, paint them. Paint each sheet a solid hue that matches or complements the rest of your deck. For a more decorative and attention-getting option, add some decorative painting, using a detail brush to paint some green ivy climbing up each sheet or to add some bold and beautiful painted flowers.
  
  

Shape-Cut Wood

• Select a more whimsical option, choosing deck skirting that features shapes cut out of sheets of wood. Purchase sheets of plywood with stars, flowers or circles cut out of it, adding some visual appeal to your deck skirting. If you can’t locate wood with these cutouts already in place, or you want to customize your own deck skirting, use a jigsaw to do so, creating interesting shapes that fit with your carefully planned outdoor decor, such as leaves or even butterfly shaped openings. For a truly unexpected addition, install some LED lights under the deck and flip them on after dark. As the light pours out of the cut shapes they will be even more noticeable and attractive.