The use of contrast can add a touch of dramatic effect to your deck’s design. Contrast is the ability to compare two different design elements in an interesting and intelligent way. The use of opposing colors or textures can express a dialogue between spaces. For instance assigning different values of brown composite decking to two intersecting deck forms can emphasize the transition and help communicate unique identities for those spaces.

The playful use of contrast can add a spark of life to an otherwise predictable design. Large decks with broad expanses of redundant floor treatment often will appear too plain. This problem can be overcome with a sophisticated use of contrast. The tricky part of using contrast is not to leave the impression that you exhausted your supply of material and had to substitute it for another. Ineffective use of contrast in practice can resemble seeing a red car retrofitted with a blue door picked up from a junkyard. Proper use of contrast can introduce a dynamic feature of visual relief to a boring old deck.