When you plan your terrace, you should consider the possibilities of installing an electrical outlet so that you can have exterior lighting, and perhaps a pump for a wall water fountain, or be able to plug in a radio or an electric spit for your barbecue. Vines for a lattice roof are an exciting addition to make to the terrace because it will help create a relationship between the house and the terrace.

Grape vines are an excellent choice because they leaf out late giving you shade in the period when you most need it and they drop their leaves as soon as the weather starts to cool down. In addition, you have the added advantage of being able to have delicious fruit from the vines. Other options in vines include the hyacinth and the gourd vine, both of which also grow quite rapidly.

You can relate the terrace to the rest of the grounds with flowers and vines grown in pots, baskets and tubs. If the wall of the house next to your terrace seems bare or the profile of your cement or asphalt paving seems too sharp in contrast against the grass, soften the line with pots of plants. Have dwarf trees on your terrace and blossoming shrubs in the terrace retaining walls. Create interest with changes of level; build flower beds around trees, steps and walls.

For a terrace which is the gathering place for the family, have a play area for the children. If there are young children, you can add a sandbox that can be filled in at a later date. You can also add a little pool where they will have hours of fun sailing boats under the watchful eye of the adults present. This can be a sense of luxury on the terrace long after the children have grown up and gone.

You don't have to rely solely on trees for shading the terrace. Construct a self-bracing terrace roof designed in the shape of an egg crate using the side of your house and wood, masonry or metal pillars. Corrugated plastic and reinforced glass are two materials commonly used because they are watertight and still allow the sunlight to pass through.

Coming into more and more architectural use - particularly in hot climates - is the "parasol" roof, which extends from the walls of the house some 4 feet and even more to give pleasant shade to the surrounding area. Since glare reflected on bare grounds is a source of heat, a carpet of shaded grass under the parasol roof helps to keep the house cool.

Often an outdoor living space gets twice the use if it is made more accessible. A window in a living room can be converted to a French door, making it more natural to step right out on the terrace instead of walking around the house to reach it. A terrace that is an extension of a narrow porch - a paved area adjoining the porch - will make the porch that much more liveable.

A flagstone path - or any other path - leading to a terrace away from the house will increase the usefulness of the terrace.

Some kind of hard flooring is of prime importance, whether it is made of brick, crushed rock, cement, wood block or flagstone. This makes it easier to move the furniture around and eliminates worries about tramped-on turf. In fact it is a good idea to have a terrace in a spot where you are having trouble with the lawn.

Outdoor living space is successful too, when it is sheltered away from the street noises and traffic, from the neighbours and from the wind. An unused corner of the house or the garage, with the aid of fences and walls, can turn into a sun trap that will stretch out the season for outdoor living, both in the spring and fall.

A louvered board fence, a basket weave fence, or the traditional brick wall are all ideas for creating pleasant backgrounds for planting and good screens against wind and other disturbing elements.