We need some suggestions on renovating the deck that is on the back of the house we purchased. It is a wood deck that the prior owner painted red and since our house is green, it looks like Santa's summer home!..yikes...we need help! The boards are old, but the footers, frame, etc are in good shape. We can replace the deck boards, railing, etc., but is there a way to cover the footers? The deck is approx. 12 ft. off the ground so the bright red footers will really stand out once we replace all the other wood on the deck. Thank you,

A footer is under ground and is there to keep some thing from sinking, guessing you mean the post, also called the coloums.
Just got to love it. People do the dammed things to houses.
Paint would never haved worked any way.
Post some pictures for some suggestions.
Post can be sanded off, vinyl post covers added.
Rim joist can have composite fashia added to them to cover them up.
Depending on how it was built, sometimes the railing can be removed, post covers and caps added
and vinyl or composite railing can be used so there's never anymore maintance needed.

Thanks for the ideas! We have checked and we can remove all railing/deck boards and replace with composite...thank goodness! We are definately going to try your suggestions. Thank you

Before doing this check to make sure the floor joist are no more then 16" apart. Most composites can not span 24" without sagging.
If they are 24, then just add more joist with hangers.