Why It Pays To Give Outdoor Spaces More Attention

Spring is a joyous time to enjoy nature, and it’s always great to go for a long walk and take in the change of season. However, it’s also just as nice to view the beauty from the comfort of your own home. There are many ways to do this that probably exist right now in your house, but they just need some attention.

Most of us have a patio, deck, or backyard space that we use for grilling or eating outside. If you have this area, then you are ready already! Turn that space into your outdoor Living Room! Gone are the days of the conventional picnic table, grill, and pop up chairs.

Create an area that is as beautiful as it is functional.

We can work with you to create a design plan for taking the conventional into something more.

The Patio As A Second Living Room

When you consider your patio space, there is so much to expand on beyond a simple table and chairs. Outdoor couches are substantial pieces that work well to frame the edges of a patio, allowing seating to curl around and maximize the center space. Outside dining tables come in various sizes and materials, but a nice long rectangle gives you plenty of room to sit outdoors and relax. Accompanying chairs no longer feel like spindly, rickety camping chairs; today, chairs for the outdoors come with swivel, armrests, and cushions for much more luxury.

Designing the look of the patio space offers exciting options beyond just the color of your cushions. Flowers and plants artfully hung or displayed can create a lush feeling to even the barest backyard. By playing with the heights of planters or hanging lights and plants together from above, you can create cozy areas that surround and fill your space with plenty of nature. The addition of a canopy or awning brings in the shade for a change of lighting or comfort against the heat of the sun, but this overarching element also allows you another way to create a cohesive and unified look to the space.

A Deck Is More Than Just A Flat Platform

Decks are wonderful ways to create islands outdoors to enjoy the space. Some are classic square features that extend the house outward from a sliding glass door, while others curve around the home or expand to cover the whole backside of a house. 

Adding a deck to a home builds more floor space to work with and allows you so many outdoor options. Deck railings give you the advantage to add flower boxes or lights, and the height means you can play with dimensions of low, medium, and tall garden design elements. 

When you lay down low planters, you create a feeling like walking through a pathway. From deep greens to bright flowers, these accents can line an entryway to an outdoor living space, guiding the eye like a docent at a museum bringing guests through. The middle height allows you to build more dimension with tall grasses or arrangements that flow over the edges with a skyrocketing middle in a colorful flowering plant or more grasses. Finally, you can add hanging plants or flowers that cascade down, bringing more greenery or flowers to the space.

The furniture options for decks are another great way to play up this space. The living room furniture sets for outdoor spaces are beyond just rattan or metal. Real solid pieces with cushions to rival your family room couch make these outdoor couches just as appealing and comfortable. Tables for decks span all sizes and shapes, so you can put in a small oval for a tight space or a full-length dining room table to entertain on a larger backyard deck.

Just like in your living room, add a coffee table to host beverages while you’re outdoors. It adds a comforting touch that also makes a nice, low surface to pair against your outdoor couch or settee. For an even warmer touch (literally), add a fire element. From a rugged fire pit to a full fireplace with mantle, there is nothing like curling up outdoors with the gentle warmth of a low, soft fire. However you contain it, there are some beautiful ways to display and include fire in your outdoor scape.

Porches Add Curb Appeal And Function

There’s nothing as beautiful as a wrap-around porch! But even simple sentry porches that cover the front door add appeal to a home. The porch addition to a home is more than decoration, though. Porches extend your space to enjoy the outdoors as well.

Porch furniture must include seating. For sure, a rocker of some type! Today, rockers for the outdoors come in modern, sleek styles or equally quaint and reminiscent of an old-timey heirloom rocker. Another classic element is the swinging chair. Far from creaking and weathered seats, these can be played up with new materials to create an artistic looking or modern bench that sways gently beneath you. There’s another classic, the Adirondack chair, that has variations to appeal to modern or more traditional sensibilities. Small spaces can still have seating, just more streamlined. Café chairs and a small table in a corner can enhance a small porch space visually while creating a sweet coffee nook for long weekend mornings. 

Porches are another great space to feature the outdoors. Hanging plants work beautifully in these spaces, and from large bouquets bursting with color and dimension to smaller, stately arrangements that punctuate rather than accentuate, these spaces are ideal for featuring greenery. Stairways lined with planters that merge into flower beds along the front are another way to incorporate plants and flowers along a porch.

Beautify With Nature And The Great Outdoors

When you merge your home with the outdoors, you create a space that seems to sprout from the ground itself, blending in as naturally as the trees and grass. Homes that incorporate nature and outdoor spaces seamlessly merge into natural surroundings, creating an illusion that they belong as much as any flower or bush. 

The feeling of homes like these invokes peace and comfort, reaching into our inner beings that belong at one with Nature. When outdoor spaces feel as lush as a garden, you get to enjoy the experience of living among the great outdoors instead of separated by walls and windows. Whether you gaze at stars from the deck chaise lounge or swing gently on the porch swing watching the sunset, investing time and attention to these outdoor spaces pays off dividends to your health and wellbeing.