For many homeowners, the primary function of the backyard is to create a private haven within comfortable reach. When the weather agrees with your intentions, eating outside is a fantastic idea. Cooking and sharing meals outdoors is hard to beat. You can make al fresco dining a frequent activity with the addition of an outdoor dining area. This space will also provide plenty of entertainment opportunities for friends and family. Here’s why you would want to treat yourself by including a peaceful outdoor dining area in your Troy, MI, landscape design.
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Pleasing Outdoor Lighting
Outdoor dining tends to be best enjoyed in both the days and the evenings, or whenever the mood calls. Pleasing outdoor lighting is one of the most important components of any outdoor dining area and surrounding landscape. So, make sure that your outdoor dining space is not illuminated by an old-school floodlight. That type of light is often considered harsh and unwelcoming and creates strong shadows. Instead, use a more subtle approach: You could opt for lining the area with walkway lighting to keep the ground surfaces well lit, ambient lights in the background to create a sense of dimension in the surrounding landscape, and some romantic, minimal lighting fixtures that make all your dishes and glasses twinkle as you enjoy the company of others.
A Comfortable Shelter
You don’t have to let the weather dictate whether you’ll be dining indoors or out. A dining space sheltered with a pavilion is appropriate if you find that your outdoor meal plans are too often pushed indoors because of rain or even blazing hot sunshine. The open walls of a pavilion keep the outdoor feeling while the closed roof protects the dining table and your guests from the worst of the weather. A pavilion can shelter just a dining area; or if space allows, you may wish to include a seating area and even a bar or the full outdoor kitchen. That way, you’ll spend much more time outside no matter what plans Mother Nature has.
Excellent Ambience
Just like your indoor dining space, the outdoor dining area needs to have excellent ambience. Start with creative design elements and decorations, lighting, and an outdoor sound system to provide the perfect soundtrack for all your gatherings. It’s possible to embed outdoor speakers within the structure of a pavilion or hide them in between plantings.
Interactive Cooking
A big part of outdoor dining is watching a delicious meal being created. In fact, outdoor cooking itself can be an incredibly fun activity. Much bigger and more comprehensive than the classic backyard barbecue, an outdoor kitchen could become the hub of backyard activity. Even better, opt to make the space interactive by including a seating bar on one side of the kitchen so that whoever wants to can watch the action unfold before and during the meal! If space is tight in your outdoor living space, this bar could even replace a traditional dining table.
A Welcoming Environment
Dining outdoors has a certain magic to it. Two additional elements make it even more special: fire and water. A fire feature will not only keep everyone warm if the weather gets a bit chilly, it also provides a magical ambience. And a bubbling fountain or waterfall will help create a sense of tranquility that masks traffic noise.
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