Designing Your Outdoor Living Space

Designing a functional, flexible outdoor living space is much like designing an interior room.  First, develop your outdoor living plan in a sequence, working from the most general such as identifying the purpose of the outdoor living space, to the most specific features such as a theme or color preferences. Second, commit your design to paper, ideally, to scale, and include all elements of your yard such as pool, deck, patio, gazebo, and walkways.  Also think about the traffic patterns both to and from and through your site.  Then hire a qualified contractor or a landscaping company to help you create your project and get your dream off paper stage.  Here are some guides: 

1. If you like to entertain, focus on manicured lawn, room for patio furniture, and garden party and dinners.  You need plenty of space for people to mill about.  Make your outdoor space a fun place to entertain with plenty of comfortable seating, some outdoor speakers, and décor that has style and comfort.  Creating grouping of furniture for various activities.  Have a table long enough to provide ample amount of room for a large gathering.  Use durable, low-maintenance material for even and non-slip flooring such as terrazzo or tiles.

1. If you like to relax, fill your outdoor space with lush plantings, flagstone surfaces for chaise lounge and water feature to sooth the soul.  Put a pergola, a fountain, and higher plantings on the perimeter to define the outdoor space and form a boundary.  Look for outdoor furniture that encourage lounging and have fun with fabric.  Outdoor fabric that can stand up to harsh conditions is now available in a wide range of colors and patterns.

1. If you love eating outdoors, create an outdoor cooking center.  Outdoor kitchens offer several advantages over the indoor counterparts including being able to cook at much higher temperatures.  Your outdoor kitchen features should include everything a first-rate setup needs: a sink, a grill, a refrigerator, a separate cook top, a counter top, a wood-fire oven, plenty of closed storage, a cozy fireplace, and eating areas.  Countertops made of durable materials such as granite, slate, or tiles can double as food preparation area and a buffet space where visitors can mingle and munch.  Stainless-steel grill is a material of choice for outdoor-use and a sleek look.  A wood-burning oven can reach significantly higher temperatures than interior ovens and it is great for pizza and bread.

1. If you are a gardener, design your living space with curving pathways leading to a spacious patio, a bird bath, potting table, a compact shed for your garden projects, and raise planters with garden walls.  Create an area for starting seeds, root seedlings and harden off plants before you place them in the garden, storing tender bulbs, and fragile containers.  Have a small greenhouse or a shed built.  Sheds can be hard working, pretty, and often can be gracefully incorporated into any outdoor living spaces; also, they offer beautiful focal point as well as a place to work and unwind.   

1. If you want a tranquil meditative garden, or spaces planned for activities such as reading, conversation, and sunbathing, your outdoor living space should be well screened.  Privacy will help you feel more comfortable and at home in your outdoor living space because you can shield yourself from the neighbors, the side walk, or the street.  If your outdoor living space area was not built on an unexposed side of the house, add a screen:  a privacy fence, a wall, or shrubs and trees.  Be sure to place screen strategically without blocking your own views or barricading yourself; stand on the site and locate the spots where other people can see you, then block the most revealing views first.  Build walls or higher fences then soften the look with climbing vines.  Plant dense foliage around your private space, acting as an additional buffer.  Choose evergreen plants that require little maintenance.  Be selective.  Here are four species:  aspidistra for its deep green color; nandina and bamboo for their sculptural forms; and aralia for its big, heavily textured leaves.  Place them thoughtfully around the garden.  Add a moving water feature.  Water feature is a good choice for both its sound and reflective qualities.  Keep furnishing to a minimum.  Choose a long bench and light weight stools that can be moved to different spot of particular interest or purpose while not cluttering the space.

Outdoor living spaces must be functional, safe, and suit the needs of the people who use them.  Planning is the key to maximize the enjoyment of your outdoor space’s potential.  Once you personalized your outdoor living space, you would not only gain an additional, pleasant living space, but you would also add values to your property.