When you are thinking about home improvements and renovations, it can be easy to overlook your outdoor spaces. Your kitchen and bathroom tend to receive a lot of attention when it comes to makeovers – don’t forget your garden and surrounding areas! When you come home, the first thing you notice, is your outdoor area; creating pleasant spaces that blend design style and functionality, can really lift the appearance of any property.
Here are some of the key ways in which you can brush up your outdoor spaces, maximizing the value they have for you and your family.
Plan your pathways
Before you carry out any outdoor renovations, it is important to consider the routes around your garden and surrounding areas. Aim to make pathways at least four feet wide wherever possible, as this is enough space to allow two people to walk side by side, through these areas. In terms of design features for your pathways, you have a multitude of options to consider. You can plan perennials at the edges of your pathways, to create a splendid burst of colour along them. Bear in mind, that pathways need not be direct routes from point to point. Incorporating curves and bends in your pathways, adds flair to your designs, and makes interesting routes around some of your main outdoor features.
Multi function areas
A popular idea in outdoor and garden design is, to incorporate spaces that serve several distinct functions. Adding a decked area to your garden, encourages outdoor living, as this space can be used to dine outdoors and entertain guests. If you add a decked area directly outside your kitchen or living room, and have patio doors, you can make the outdoor space an extension of indoors, by positioning the television in view of the decked area. Watching popular sporting events such as the world cup, in summertime, can be enjoyed even more by doing this al fresco on a well-designed decked area.
Alternatively, you can renovate your back patio or deck with an outdoor cooking area that you can use as an extension to the kitchen. You can add a barbeque cooker to give your food that smoked flavor and fill the outside area with delicious aromas at the same time. You can learn more about kamado cookers here.
Adding a dedicated fire pit to this area, also allows the preparation of barbecued food in the summer months, and is the perfect addition to any larger garden space. To ensure that this multi function space is used all year round, consider installing some outdoor heaters. The hospitality industry, has been embracing this technology for many years, and modern outdoor heaters are both stylish and practical.
Utilize outdoor lighting
Incorporating modern outdoor lighting, can be a functional and fashionable way to make the most of any outdoor space, and lets you take advantage of your open-air areas, all year round. Consider installing lighting along key pathways and any seating areas. Spotlighting, is a superb solution for highlighting key features of your outdoor spaces, or focusing the attention on specific outdoor designs. There are a wide range of solar powered lights that can illuminate key areas, and these have the added benefit of keeping your utility bills down and reducing your carbon footprint, in these environmentally conscious times.
