Perhaps you share the dream of achieving the perfect outdoor living space that’s beautiful and custom-tailored to your family’s needs. While everyone’s dream is different, some foundational ideas can jumpstart an incredible series of renovations that will achieve your goals. Here are four outdoor living design ideas from landscaping companies near Rochester Hills and Canton, MI.
A Smaller Lawn
Lawns bring a large amount of value to a home, especially in the front yard. They create a calming environment and a welcoming presence. However, backyard lawns aren’t useful for much besides visual aesthetics and playing with kids and pets. No matter how large your landscape, it’s important to get the most out of the space: Your backyard lawn may be taking up some valuable space that you’d get more use of as an outdoor living area. You don’t have to entirely remove your lawn, but you could consider downsizing in order to allow other aspects of your outdoor living to grow—and to make your backyard more interesting.
Smart Outdoor Living
Patios are getting larger, but instead of a large, bland slab out the kitchen door, modern patios are often sophisticated spaces with distinct activity zones. You could consider a series of mini-patios connected by short walkways to create outdoor “rooms” so that everyone can enjoy the backyard in their own way.
A “smart” living space embraces technology to control outdoor lighting and outdoor audio for the perfect experience wherever you are. Many of these systems can be controlled via smartphone apps, allowing you to change the atmosphere instantly.
Raised Masonry Planters
Masonry planters can bring vertical interest to any flat surface. Imagine having an herb garden close to your outdoor kitchen. Or your planter could be filled with billowing ornamental grasses that bring interest to your patio. Or you could have a planter that houses a living wall of cedars to block an unsightly view.
If you’re embracing the “interconnected mini-patios” design, raised masonry planters help define the spaces and can even provide overflow seating if the cap stone is large enough.
Masonry planters can also look amazing along your front entry walkway. You can even incorporate landscape lighting into them to provide elegance and illumination.
Multiple Fire Features
Adding a fire feature to an outdoor living space is, for many homeowners, a no-brainer. No other feature draws a crowd quite like a warm fire. But who’s to say you should have just one fire feature?
For a small patio, you could choose one fire feature to warm up the space and add ambience. But when it comes to a large patio—or a series of interconnected patios—you could create an amazing atmosphere with two or even three fire features.
A fire table marries two favorite human pastimes: sharing a meal and gathering around a fire. This gas-fueled fire feature can be located within a pavilion or centrally on the patio near your outdoor kitchen.
A fire pit could be a central feature on the patio, or even a “destination spot” farther out in the landscape.
An outdoor fireplace—especially if it is integrated with a retaining wall—can provide a comfortable living room feel. There’s a sense of intimacy and privacy that such a feature establishes, while encouraging you to linger outside.
