• The right pool deck can make the swimming area especially attractive.swimming pool image by apeschi from Fotolia.com
  
  Whether you're building a swimming pool for your backyard or want to add some finishing touches to an existing outdoor pool, it's a good idea to look at a few design plans to construct a new pool deck. Using some of your favorite colors and building materials can make the deck especially original and inviting.
  
  

Lighted Pool Decks

• If you and your family like to visit the pool in the evenings and want to make the area around the pool more attractive, a lighted pool deck is a good choice. Some contractors can install glow-in-the-dark concrete for the pool deck, which is actually an installation of phosphorous into acrylic sealings that also serve as an added safety feature. The lights within the pool deck material can illuminate the lawn chairs or other pool furniture so that the space looks inviting for guests. Lamps mounted into the deck or the lawn nearby can shine light directly into the pool to make the area look much more attractive both up close and from far away.
  
  

Stone Varieties

• Instead of designing a pool deck that is made solely from concrete, adding larger stones into the deck material for additional color and texture is ideal. It gives the pool deck a more sophisticated feel as marble stone varieties are formed around the pool to resemble ancient Greek or Roman baths. Set stones into the deck, and sand them flat so that guests can walk on them, or use larger stones to decorate the corners of the deck. Adding shades of bronze and gold to the pool lamps or deck borders will complement most stone varieties well.
  
  

Natural Landscaping

• To give the pool deck a natural feel or to design the area around the pool in a way that makes the man-made body of water look natural, natural elements are necessary. Add large stones to this pool design as well, in addition to greenery. It's a good idea to ask the contractor to leave some grass space around the deck to plant trees and flowers so that the pool area resembles a lake or a pond. Small fountains made from stone can line the pool deck, or construct them in one or more of the corners. Life-like replicas of pond animals, such as frogs and turtles, can serve as natural pool deck decoration as well, and can rest along the fountains or in between plants.