Few things can beat having an outdoor living area right within your property.
With an outdoor living space, you’ll have a place where you can relax and take in the fresh air, but without leaving your home.
Not all homeowners get the chance to create their outdoor living space, though, as many don’t have room for it.
If you’re one of the fortunate ones who live in a property big enough to accommodate an outdoor living area, it would be such a waste if you don’t create one.
Imagine having space within your property where you can just put your feet up anytime you want and unwind without a care in the world.
When it gets too hot out, you can always turn on your residential patio misting system and stay cool the entire time.
The cold shouldn’t bother you either, not when you have heating systems to keep it at bay.
If you’re entertaining the idea of creating your ideal outdoor living space, consider these tips that should help you make it a reality.
1. Set Your Budget and Stick With It
Admittedly, creating an outdoor space is going to cost you.
Building a patio or deck is essentially a remodeling project, with some construction and landscaping work involved.
You will also have to buy new furniture to go with it and spend some more on other bits and pieces that would make the space fit your tastes.
There should be no problem if money is not an issue. However, if your funds are limited, just set a budget and stick with it. That means you may have to do away with the flashier details you have in mind, which you can get back to once more resources come in the not-too-distant future.
2. Buy The Right Outdoor Furniture For Your Climate
Once you build your patio, you will need to buy outdoor furniture to go with it.
When buying outdoor furniture, always take the climate into consideration.
If the weather in your area is of the hot and dry kind, resin wicker furniture would be your best choice.
Unlike wooden furniture, resin wicker furniture does not crack or splinter under the heat of the sun. It also holds up well in rainy and humid conditions.
If your house is located in a windy area, aluminum furniture may not be the ideal choice. While they do well in extreme weather, aluminum furniture is light, and therefore likely to get carried away by strong winds.
3. Put Up Plenty of Shade
If you like soaking up the sun, you might opt for an open-air patio. However, you will still need plenty of shade because you wouldn’t want yourself and your family to be exposed to the sun’s rays for hours on end.
Trees provide excellent shade, so plant trees near your patio.
If you can spring for patio umbrellas, then go ahead and get the type of shade that you will need.
Covered patios may be able to block the noonday sun, but sunlight could still sneak in from either side in the mornings and late afternoons. Patio drop shades should do the job well.
4. Add Landscape Water Features
Is there anything more relaxing than the sound of flowing water?
You can have plenty of that if your budget includes adding landscape water features.
There is a wide range of water features that you can install at home, from a water fountain to a koi pond.
With water features in your backyard, your outdoor living space will be the perfect place to de-stress.
5. Let There Be Light
Your outdoor living area should be available to you 24 hours a day.
Of course, the only way it would be a great place to unwind in the evenings is if you put up much-needed lights.
Simple overhead lights should do the job, but if you want to play with the lighting a little, then go ahead and light your backyard up the way you want it.
String lights around the trees you planted for shade would be a superb idea.
You can also put up globe lights near hedges. If you want to go rustic, string lights across the yard using old-style exposed bulbs should achieve that effect.
6. Ensure Your Privacy
The time you spend in your outdoor living space will be a bit less relaxing if neighbors can see into it.
For more privacy, you can always build a fence around your property. You can also put up tall landscaping plants to act as a fence. You can also install privacy screens for good measure.
Whatever your reason for wanting to create an outdoor living space, you can be sure that the tips above are good enough places to start.
