An outdoor living space gives a comfortable area to enjoy the fresh air and sunshine from the comfort of your backyard. Depending on your ultimate goals, it can increase your overall living space and serve numerous other purposes.
For example, outdoor living spaces can include another place to cook or eat during the warm months and a cozy spot to curl up in front of a fire during the cooler months. Outdoor living spaces are a useful, aesthetically pleasing addition to any home.
What To Consider for an Outdoor Living Room
Your outdoor living space should be customized to fit your unique needs. You should consider your desires and goals and your property’s specifications.
When designing an outdoor living room, you’ll want to start by considering the location and size of the planned space. An outdoor living room should be conveniently adjacent (or close to) the kitchen, indoor living room or dining area. This ensures food can easily be brought from indoors to outdoors when needed and provides a convenient access point to the outdoor space.
In addition, you’ll want to plan the size of your outdoor space so it doesn’t encompass your whole yard yet still provides ample room for your family and any hosted guests.
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Next, consider the aesthetics of your future outdoor room. What shape best suits your preferences and available space? Some outdoor spaces are true squares or rectangles, while others are best suited to irregular shapes so the most can be made of the yard. Consider continuity, too. If your outdoor room is adjacent to one inside your home, consider using the same design elements to tie them together.
Finally, you’ll want to figure out your goals and budget. Creating a realistic budget for your outdoor room is crucial so you can set realistic goals and understand any financial limitations to your project before it begins.
As for your goals, consider what you’re looking to achieve with your space. For example, do you want an outdoor kitchen to cook in when the weather is warm? Are you looking for outdoor seating that’ll expand upon the entertaining capabilities of your house? Or are you simply looking for a spot to enjoy the outdoors in any given season?
Additional Outdoor Living Space Features
Once you’ve done your initial planning and research, you’ll want to start considering additional outdoor living space features. These other features can add ambiance, improve functionality and generally help you create the perfect spot for relaxing or entertaining.
Pergolas
A pergola can be a walkway or sitting area created with open sides and a latticed top. Generally, vines are trained to grow through the latticed top to create a shaded area in or around your garden. A pergola can be the perfect option if you like to surround yourself with nature.
Inside the pergola, you can create a cozy sitting space with comfortable outdoor furnishings. Comfortable seating is a must, while you might consider adding a coffee table or two as a place to sit drinks on hot days.
Outdoor Kitchen
An outdoor kitchen does more than provide a secondary place to cook. Cooking outside, when possible, avoids raising the temperature in your house. When the temperature in your home rises from cooking, your air conditioner must work harder, thus increasing your energy bills. This makes outdoor kitchens excellent ideas for those looking to reduce energy costs.
An outdoor kitchen may include a grill, oven, stove top, fridge or ice chest. Consider adding bench seating so you have a place to rest while cooking. You might also consider incorporating a dining table into your design.
Water Features
A pool is one of the most popular water features you might add to your backyard design. Pools provide the family a place to swim and cool off when the weather gets hot. In addition, you can add a sun lounger or two beside the pool as comfortable places to relax.
Pools aren’t the only water feature option available. Consider adding a small waterfall or pond to your garden to create the most relaxing atmosphere. Another excellent option for your garden is a birdbath, which is not only beautiful but will help attract local wildlife. Consider adding the birdbath near a copse of trees to best attract birds to your yard.
Fire Pits and Fireplaces
An outdoor fireplace or fire pit can make your patio or garden usable in cooler weather. A fireplace is best suited to bringing warmth to partially enclosed spaces like a walled patio. A fire pit is better suited to open spaces like the garden.
One of the most popular times to use an outdoor fire pit is in the spring or fall when the weather isn’t too warm. You can gather around the flames with your friends and family to drink coffee, roast marshmallows and enjoy one another’s company.
Outdoor Lighting Elements
Incorporating outdoor lights into your design is just good sense. Lights help create the perfect spot for relaxation in the late evening or night, allowing you to get the most out of your new outdoor floor plan. A few outdoor lighting ideas include:
- LED border lighting on your stairs or decking
- Outdoor wall sconces
- Solar lights along pathways
- Fairy lighting (strung from trees or bushes)
- Spotlighting (to highlight key accent pieces)
- Pool lighting (installed inside the pool to light up the water)
How PWHI Can Help
PWHI can help you create the perfect outdoor living or dining area by giving you a solid foundation to start building on. We can make you a beautiful, durable patio that’ll create the ideal place for relaxing, cooking or dining. If you’re looking for something beyond flat concrete, our company is a qualified brick paver patio contractor and handles patio enclosures, too.
A deck can create the perfect dining area with the right furnishings. We provide customized deck installation in Virginia designed exclusively to your wants, needs and style specifications. Our team also includes qualified screen room contractors to help build the perfect bug-free, shady lounge for hot summer days.
Contact Us Today for More Information
Want to learn more about designing an outdoor living room that best suits your home and family? Or would you like to enlist the help of professionals qualified to build, repair or expand upon your outdoor living space? Contact us today for a free estimate.
