A deck drawing can make a staircase look like punctuation: put it in the middle and the composition is finished. In use, stairs are a route. Routes have a habit of walking straight through the nicest place for a table.
Start at the destination
Mark the gate, lawn, shed, and places people carry things. Trace the route from the house door to each. Then put the actual table and occupied chairs on the plan. You are looking for a path that works while people are sitting down.
Side stairs can protect the deck’s centre, particularly beside a natural side-yard route. Centre stairs can feel direct and generous when the garden is straight ahead. Neither placement excuses an awkward landing or a route that ends in a planting bed.
Keep the landing in the drawing
Include the full stair and landing footprint, proposed grades, door movement, and any guard or handrail requirements. Do not move the stairs after framing as though they were a loose chair. Their support and relationship to the yard need to be designed.
Trex’s deck design considerations encourage planning movement and furniture together. Our layout test is to carry a tray through the proposed route with the chairs occupied, using a safe ground-level mockup.
Choose the route that stays clear
Keep centred stairs if they create a useful connection to the garden without splitting the usable deck. Move them to the side if that leaves a better outdoor room. Symmetry is pleasant. So is getting to the lawn without asking three people to tuck their chairs in.