Home depot has a great customer service department and very knowledgeable employees that can get you started and on your way to designing your own outdoor patio.
The best outdoor lighting for your own is really a matter of personal preference. The best lighting for soft glow on your patio is solar powered twinkle lights.
If you are good at construction, then building you own outdoor gazebo is an option. It will be better and probably cheaper to just have someone build it for you.
There isn't an exact statistic on the number of people who own patio furniture sets, but I would say at least half of the people who have porches or decks have patio furniture.
I want to build a bar in my basement. What are some ideas to do this as easily as possible?
When you are building a new home, you might also want to build a patio or deck for entertaining guests. You should either draw up patio or deck plans on your own or work with a contractor or architect to get some help. This is the best way to insure that the patio or deck will be exactly how you want it. You could also find some basic plans and use them.
Yes, you can find find a guide that shows you how to make patio furniture on the following site: http://www.bluegrassgardens.com/outdoor-furniture-plans.htm. They have great plans.
http://www.patioproductions.com/ has hundreds of outdoor wicker patio sets that are available online and will ship directly from the manufacturer to your own house.
There are many good brands for outdoor patio furniture. You cannot say one is particularly the best because that would be based on your own personal tastes. Some brands I would recommend would be Oakland Living, Sunbcast and Arden.
Patio cover plans are widely available on the internet. They can be purchased from www.woodshop.com or www.shadebuilder.com. Another great option is www.patiocoversplace.com.
You have many options available to you if you are looking for wood patio furniture. Ace hardware will to custom jobs, as well as independent carpenters in your area. Alternatley you can buy lumber from home depot and build your own rustic wooden patio furniture and if you really want rustic, you can go to the forest, choose your own lumber and build you furniture from that.
There are many different companies that build decks and can give you all the information you want. You can even buy software that you can design your own deck and choose someone to build it exactly the way you want.