(ARA) - When does a trend become a tradition? With continued interest in creating great outdoor living spaces, the trend for jazzing up the backyard may just be on the verge of becoming a staple of the American home, and as much a requirement as a great kitchen or welcoming bath.

And every summer it seems homeowners find new ways to create a "wow effect" in their outdoor living spaces. The outdoor experts at ConcreteNetwork.com point to five hot trends in patio designs to help elevate your backyard patio from a nice patch of bricks to your favorite spot to entertain and relax this summer:

1. Make the backyard a destination

More people are foregoing costly summer vacations in favor of sinking that travel money into creating a getaway spot in their own backyards. Enterprising homeowners are using decorative concrete to create mini theme parks with faux rock water features, sculpted pools with water slides and garden bridges.

2. Cost-sensible, eco-conscious

Environmental awareness doesn't have to take a backseat to luxury, homeowners are finding. Backyard oases must also emphasize eco-consciousness, incorporating environmentally-friendly materials like concrete, which is sustainable. But they also like the organic look and feel that the material can impart. Concrete patios can mimic the look of natural stone - even lava - without the eco-impact associated with quarrying the real thing. Plus, concrete costs considerably less than many natural stone products.

3. Furniture built to last and last

Anybody can go to the local home improvement store and pick up a patio set. The truly trendy backyard designer turns to permanent backyard furniture, custom-made to fit your yard's style. Custom concrete furniture can take on any shape, from pool tables and benches to patio tables and planters. It lasts a lifetime and never needs to be painted or refinished.

4. Light my fire

When it comes to creating ambiance, few home improvements pack the wallop of a fireplace. Outdoor hearths are growing in popularity as homeowners continue to recreate all the appeal of their home's interior outside in the backyard. Whether you choose gas or wood-burning, custom designed or pre-cast, adding a fireplace to your outdoor landscape is sure to light up its appeal. A big thing now is outdoor fireplace designs.

5. Size - and shape - matter

We've all seen patio disasters - the sprawling slab that totally dominates a tiny backyard, or the postage-stamp-sized patio that appears lost in a sea of grass. Homeowners are no longer leaving patio size to chance. Instead, they're putting a lot of thought and planning into right-sizing their patio to create a living area that meets their needs and fits the profile of their backyard. How the space will be used and how much space you have to work with will be main factors in sizing your concrete patio, according to Scott Cohen of GreenSceneLandscape.com. You can also find a patio size chart at www.concretenetwork.com/patio/size.html.

Whatever your personal style, and whether you're aiming to improve your home's resale value or enhance your enjoyment of your house, upgrading your outdoors is an investment that makes sense. Visit www.concretenetwork.com to learn more.

Courtesy of ARAcontent

When you have a tiki bar, having tiki decorations to put in it will make it look more authentic and will add color and design to it. There are many different decorations that you purchase that are already completed for you, but making your own decorations is more fun and will add your own personal touch to your new bar, which is good for having a party.

Creating your own decorations is not hard to do, but you will need to take some time to decide what decorations you will want. Some of the different types of decorations that you can use, whether purchased or made are:
Tiki heads

Tiki statues
Reeds that are dried
Palms and other fake grasses
Toy or fake parrots
Fake or real palm trees that are potted
Fishnets
Sea animals like lobsters, shrimp and even conch shells
Wind chimes
Rope garland

You can also do themed decorations for your party like for a Luau party or a beach party. One of the decorations that are good for any of these types of parties that would look good in your tiki bar is the sea animals.

These are just some of the many decorations that can be added to your tiki bar. Some of them will need to be bought, depending on what you choose to use, but there are many that you can make yourself. Making them yourself is a lot of fun and lets your family get involved.

You can make decorating the bar into a family project that will make it look nice; while at the same time will let your family get some good quality time together. Have your kid’s help you make sea animals.

Using wood or cardboard for these animals is a good idea because once they are cut into shape; everyone can enjoy painting the sea animals onto it. This will take some preparation from you because you will need to draw the animals onto the wood or cardboard and then cut them into shape.

Painting and designing your own sea animals will add your family’s own personal touch to it. Besides, this allows you to get creative because there are no rules about what can go into a tiki bar, except your own rules about it. So, why not have some fun with it and create your own decorations for the perfect party atmosphere.

Another decoration that is good for any party and that you can keep hanging in your tiki bar is the tiki masks, which you can enjoy making. There are molds for these masks that you can purchase, along with the materials that will be needed.

Once you have everything needed, it just takes time and following instructions to have a cool looking tiki mask to hang on the walls that will make your bar feel and look more authentic.

Making your own decorations is definitely a good idea for so many different reasons, but the main one being that it allows you the chance to add your own personal touch without spending a fortune to do it. Saving money and spending time with your family are two more good reasons to make your own decorations.

Tiki decorations add color and design to your tiki bar or tiki hut, but there is no reason why you can’t also add your own personal touch by having fun making the decorations. Try making just one of the decorations for you bar and you will be hooked because it will make your bar look good and make you feel good about doing this for the bar you have always wanted and now have.

Here's a great information if you are looking for tiki bar plans.

Okay, this isn't about Life on the Deck, but a broken sink takes time away from your life on the deck and I found this great website with tutorials on how to fix things that I wanted to share it.

A couple of days ago I went downstairs to where my office is located and I walked through a very wet carpet. My first thought was that the kids had a bath night before and they had a bit too much fun and sent water every where.

I found this was not the case and then I started the investigation and eventually found the problem was a broken drainpipe in the bathroom sink. The drain pipe is the part that connects your sink to the rest of the system. In my case, the metal part that you see when you look into your sink had snapped off. I did a quick review of installing sinks from my old copy of "Readers Digest New Complete Do-It-Yourself Manual"…this is how I know that part is called the drain pipe. I then headed off to o Home Depot to get the new part.

I got the part and had a quick chat with the Home Depot sales rep to understand how to replace it. When I got home I felt pretty knowledgeable about what I needed to, but after a few minutes I needed more information on the proper installation. This is when I went to the Internet and found a great site that totally explained the process with narration and videos. I found this a great help because it explained the complete process.

Here's a link to the page that explains how to replace a bathroom faucet. If you are just replacing the drainpipe you can go to number 8 at the top.

(ARA) - Starry evenings and backyard entertainment go hand-in-hand. When the sun goes down, the right landscape lighting can turn any backyard into a stylish outdoor living space. With so many options, it's easy to fill your nights with light to enhance security, decor and entertainment.

"Lighting your landscape is like working with a canvas with you as the artist," says Jon Carloftis, garden and landscape designer. "Consumers are demanding outdoor lighting solutions that offer great design and conserve energy and money. It's important to choose lighting with an eye toward your home's architectural features and practicality."

Carloftis offers these simple tips to light up your nights:

* Keep your lighting simple. Start with one main lighting source and add accent lighting to highlight garden features. Don't over-light. It wastes energy, is costly and unappealing.

* For illuminating your entryway, deck and patio, use lighting that mimics moonlight, like new solar-powered lighting systems.

* Stagger path lights. Be creative.

* Skip the complicated wiring and costly electric bills by using new solar lights.

* With energy costs rising, people are looking for ways to cut costs. Decorative lights illuminate specific areas but draw on energy, have wires that need to be hidden and need replacement bulbs. Twenty-first-century solutions - like solar energy - harness the power of the sun to illuminate the night.

"Now everyone can get in on the solar revolution," says Marc Jensen, marketing director for Byron Originals, Inc., makers of the new SunLight 180 System. The latest high tech solar-powered outdoor lighting appliances come in styling that's durable and low-maintenance. They harness the sun's power by day, and when provided with enough light energy from the sun, last throughout the night.

"SunLight 180 delivers warm white light equivalent to a 40-watt incandescent bulb, packaged in a sleek design," says Jensen. "Plus consumers can save on costly energy bills with the low-voltage, high-efficiency LED fixture that requires no electrician or special wiring." For more information, visit www.Sunlight180.com.

So whether you want hours of lighting for your entryways or for evening outdoor entertainment, look to the sun to light up your nights.

Courtesy of ARAcontent