How to Design a Beach House Roof Deck

Hideaway

• A roof deck in a densely-built beach community maintains the illusion of privacy by going vertical. If the roof will support the weight, place containers with small trees around the deck’s perimeter. A ceramic chimney sleeve “planted” with willow rods or tall rushes is a touch of nature that forms a screen. It can be replaced seasonally or when the reeds or branches degrade. Adding a simple lattice rail around the top of a low wall lets air and light through but partly blocks the view from neighboring decks or windows. A strategically placed patio umbrella provides shade and concealment from taller surrounding condos or hotels.

Private Plaza

• Turn a tiny seaside roof deck into a village square with clever lighting and décor. Adapt a lamp post to look like a street lamp for full use of the deck at night. Hang street signs on the wall of the house or the enclosure for the staircase to the roof. Provide park benches for seating and plant containers to ring the roof deck with decorative grasses and flowering shrubs like park lawn edges and street swales. A cramped space takes on big personality without breaking the bank.

Spare in Mid-Air

• A roof deck should be more than low-maintenance, it should be no-maintenance. Concrete walls painted to look like Mexican stucco are décor enough and the sky and surrounding views are all the art you need. Replace one solid stucco wall with a wall made of glass block for a feeling of openness and a light reflector. Paint a concrete deck floor or use salt-spray- and weather-friendly woods for long life. Keep a couple of modern design chaises and some stools on the deck for quick seating and add folding garden tables, free-standing patio umbrellas and strings of fairy lights for a party.

Cool and Curved

• If the only available roof top deck is uneven -- punctuated by skylights, housing for air conditioning compressors or other construction -- build decking in levels. Use teak or cedar wood slats to add both interest and access to usable space. Skylights get their exposure, surrounded by decking that is creative and contemporary. Continue horizontal deck slats up the wall of an air-conditioning tower to hide it and provide a backdrop for an outdoor shower. Undulate slats to form curved, built-in chaise lounges that invite restful contemplation of cloud formations. Curve or angle slats to form a wave-shaped windbreak over roof top planters. Then grow a garden or ornamentals in containers that are protected from salt spray and strong winds off the water. Your beach house aerie in the sky has "waves," beach chairs and a shower, all constructed in wood that can handle exposure to the elements. A roof top that could have been unusable becomes your own private extension of the beach.