Outdoor living spaces can enhance your life by allowing you to enjoy your backyard, help you relax, and give you quality time with friends and family. While it is exciting to design your space, and imagine all of the fun activities you will do once your outdoor living space is complete, if it is not thought out properly, you may run in to some problems.
When designing your backyard space, keep in mind that not everything you love is going to match what your backyard looks like. If you are wanting to do a contemporary design for your yard, but your house is older, your outdoor living space is going to look out of place. When creating your space, you want to go for something that is going to compliment the features that you already have around your property. Look at your house, driveway, garden, and any hardscape features that you may have, and design a look that is going to match it. Try to keep the color pallet the same around your yard. Pops of color are easy to add with rugs, and pillows, but your base color for your space should match the aesthetic of your property. Keep in mind that if you are planning on moving in the future, that potential buyers are going to see this space, and most homeowners like a classic look that they can add their own touches too.
The two main materials that are used in an outdoor living space are wood and brick. Many homeowners feel that wood gives a more inviting, “cozy” feel that you cannot get from brick. While in some cases this can be true, nowadays, pavers come in so many options of color and style, that brick can have a warm feel to it. If brick pavers end up feeling too “cold” for your space, it is easy to add warmth by adding rugs, curtains, and cushions to your living space. Looks aside, wood does not last, and we always recommend that patios, walkways, fire pit pads, etc., are made with brick pavers. If you would like to add a wood feel to your outdoor living space, a wooden roof structure, or pergola do the trick.
When determining what size you want your outdoor living space to be, think long and hard about what you are using your space for. Many homeowners have opted for smaller spaces because they think that they will only use their outdoor space every once in a while, but will this be the case five years down the road? Of course, you can always add to your space if your needs change, but it’s better to do your build all at once. Some styles and colors of pavers can get discontinued, and may be hard to match years down the road, especially if your pavers or wood fade. If you are single now, but plan on having a family in the future, maybe you want to have a space that can accommodate your children and pet.
Size can also be an issue if the area is too big. Maybe you have dreamt about having a big outdoor living space all of your life, but find out that you would have been better off with less patio space, and more flower beds and plants. Whatever you are looking for, try to envision yourself in different situations on your patio, and make a decision from there on what size is right for you.
The top things that homeowners think about when designing their outdoor living space is what they want their patio to look like, what type of roof structure they are looking to get, and what furniture will look good with their new space. These are all important things to consider, but something that most people forget to do is plan for things that cannot be installed after their patio has been built. These include, things like electrical lines for any lighting that you want to add, adding cable or WIFI to enhance your entertaining, and natural gas lines for BBQ’s or fire pits. Sure, these can be added after your outdoor living space renovation is complete, but will require your contractor to rip out part of your brick pavers or wood patio to get to the area. If this happens, your patio is not going to have a uniform look, no matter how good your contractor is. The cost of labor will be more than if you would have had these services put in when the build was happening, and it is just going to add more stress and having machines come back and tearing up your lawn. So again, think about what you would like to see incorporated into your outdoor living space, and do these measures before it is too late to change what you envisioned.
There are many great resources online for patio builds, and Pinterest has millions of ideas for how to enhance your outdoor living space. Homeowners will have no problem creating a backyard oasis that truly fits all of their needs.