Throw Down Like Martha Stewart: 5 Deck Decorating Ideas for the Ultimate Gathering

Nobody has done more to shape the way Americans entertain than Martha Stewart, which makes her take on parties a little surprising. "I don't like cocktail parties terribly much," she told People magazine in her August 2026 cover story. Her friends even call her LIFO, last in and first out, since she prefers to arrive as everyone is sitting down to dinner and head home not long after dessert.

Read it again, though, and it sounds less like a confession and more like a standard. As a self-described perfectionist, Martha has high expectations for everything, including her outdoor space. This is why she chose Trex® composite decking and railing to set the stage in her Bedford, New York, backyard, where she entertains often. 

Becoming the host everyone wants an invite from is part menu, part guest list, and part the space itself. With the perfect foundation in place, it’s the finishing touches that turn any alfresco setting into a welcoming outdoor gathering space. Want to decorate your deck in a way that's worthy of Martha’s “it’s a good thing” stamp of approval? Take your backyard entertaining to the next level with the following five tips, inspired by the iconic host herself.

1. Create Zones for Guests to Settle In

To host like Martha, create a thoughtful layout that lets guests ease in with distinct spaces for each activity. She plans her events around a simple reality: people show up at different times and want different things from the night. 

"Guests need somewhere to set down a drink, to be able to move comfortably throughout a space, and relax before and after a meal," Martha recently told Homes & Gardens after hosting a summer lunch at her Bedford farm, which is why she always sets up separate areas for dining and lounging.

The best gatherings have a natural flow that takes guests from one part of the evening to the next. Starting with drinks, a self-serve beverage station means guests can help themselves the moment they arrive, and as Martha pointed out, "It keeps guests from constantly going in and out of the kitchen." 

From there, set appetizers in a space where guests won't crowd, away from the door and the main walkway. If you're hosting a dinner party, the table becomes the focal point of the evening, dressed with a thoughtfully designed tablescape before guests arrive.

When the plates are cleared, a lounge area with circular seating keeps the conversation going, with enough chairs so no one is left on their feet. "I don't like standing around," Martha told People, and her reasoning is practical: "If guests are comfortable, they'll stay longer."

Making areas genuinely feel separate is what pulls the layout together: 

• Add an outdoor rug to define a seating group. 
• Group and angle furniture inward to turn a corner of the deck into a room of its own. 
• Use planters as soft dividers to mark where one space ends without walling it off.

2. Protect Food, Drinks, and Guests on Hot Days

So much effort goes into the menu, especially when you're hosting like Martha, who told People, "One day I went to three stores to get the right lamb chops." That effort deserves better than a table baking in direct sun, where the cheese sweats and the drinks go warm before anyone sits down.

Strong UVs can put a time limit on your dinner, which is why overhead shade is key to keeping food fresh, drinks cool, and guests comfortable. When Martha hosted her summer lunch in Bedford, it was a sweltering day in late July, but the meal was served under a pergola beside the pool, so the afternoon stayed pleasant. Shade, she says, is something she'd never host without. "An umbrella or pergola makes outdoor spaces usable throughout the day and keeps everyone comfortable,” Martha told Homes & Gardens.

A few ways to work shade into your own setup:

• Add a Trex Pergola over your dining table or main seating area for permanent overhead cover.
• Choose a pergola with a retractable canopy, so you can adjust it as the sun moves through the day.
• Set up umbrellas where you need shade on a smaller scale, or want to move them around.
• Add greenery, like tall planters, to soften the light without closing off the view.
• While Trex decking with SunComfortable™ Technology is designed to keep deck surfaces cooler* than Trex's original boards, placing an outdoor rug adds another surface between the sun and the boards.

*Trex® decking with SunComfortable™ Technology stays cooler than our original boards, but like all decking, it will get hot in direct sun on hot days, especially darker colors. Care should be taken to avoid extended contact between exposed skin and the deck surface, especially with young children and those with special needs.

3. Design the Perfect Ambiance

The best nights are the ones when nobody wants to leave; when the food has been cleared, and the conversation is still going. Don't let a lack of lighting bring the evening to an abrupt ending. Especially as the days get shorter leading into fall, lighting is key to transitioning from day to night. 

Martha treats lighting as something to plan rather than improvise. "Soft lighting creates atmosphere," she told Homes & Gardens, "but it should also safely illuminate paths and steps."

A few ways to add ambiance with lighting:

• Layer Trex lighting at different levels to add dimension. Post cap lights top off your railing, riser lights keep steps safe after dark, and under-rail lights spread an even glow across the seating areas. 
• Keep candles and lanterns on the table, where they do the most for atmosphere and the least for visibility.
• Install speakers to play background music during dinner, low enough so that nobody has to raise their voice.
• Add an outdoor TV or mount a projector for movie nights and big game days.

4. Adorn With the Right Accents

The details are what make a deck feel like an extension of your home rather than a place to eat outdoors. One of Martha's favorite details is one many hosts forget entirely: "A basket of lightweight throws is one of those small touches that makes guests feel cared for," she told Homes & Gardens. 

That's the whole idea behind accessorizing an outdoor space. Every piece should either make guests more comfortable or tell them something about you. 

Borrow a few of Martha’s ideas that do both:

• Cut fresh flowers the morning of, the way Martha does at her Bedford home, with arrangements straight from her gardens.
• Keep outdoor-friendly glassware and cocktail napkins near the drink station so they’re easy to find.
• Show your personality. At her Bedford lunch, guests sat around an extra-long table made from a yew tree from Martha's former East Hampton home, set with seashell placemats and small potted money trees for each guest to take home.
• Accessorize with color and texture. Martha selected Salt Flat for her deck, a silver tone that serves as a neutral, so that flowers, linens, rugs, and cushions can provide contrast.

5. Prep Before Anyone Arrives

All of the tips mentioned above are easier when the work is done in advance. As Martha told Homes & Gardens, "Don't wait until guests arrive to think about the practical details." 

While her hosting looks effortless, nothing about it is accidental. She assigns seating, keeps salt and pepper within easy reach for everyone, and makes sure the appetizers never run out. For Martha, effortless hosting is just early hosting. She told Homes & Gardens, "Good entertaining always begins with good preparation. When you've planned ahead, everything feels effortless." 

A prep checklist is the least glamorous part of hosting, but it’s also the reason the rest of it looks easy:

• Clean the grill before you need it, not while your first guests are watching.
• Keep food covered until it's time to serve, especially outside.
• Empty any standing water around the deck so you're not hosting mosquitoes, too.
• Walk the space the way a guest will, from the door to the drinks to the table, and fix anything that slows them down.

Host Like Martha in Your Own Backyard

You style your deck for the people you invite over, but you live with it every day in between, through late dinners in August to quiet coffees in October. The best hosts are proud of their space and want to share it, so decorate yours as a place you're excited to show off. Once it's ready, the only thing left to do is enjoy your own party, one that's so well thrown even Martha might have stayed past dessert.