One of the reasons to renovate a backyard is to marry the enjoyment of the great outdoors with the conveniences of modern life. The contemporary outdoor living area employs many different features and designs to suit your lifestyle. Sometimes, coming up with a few good ideas can be difficult and you’re not sure where to begin. When planning your perfect backyard, ask your landscaper about these five outdoor living trends in Bedford and Milford, NH.
Related: 7 DESIGN IDEAS A LANDSCAPER WOULD RECOMMEND FOR HOMES IN THE PETERBOROUGH AND AMHERST, NH, AREAS
A Multi-Level Patio
When you design your outdoor living space, always start with the patio since it will become the hub of your backyard activities. It needs to have different uses and the best way to achieve this is with a patio that’s built at a few different elevations. Whether your property is sloped or perfectly flat, changing up the horizontal plane will give each activity zone its own feel while maintaining a cohesive design. For example, you could place your outdoor dining area in the center or on the fringes near the greatest view but set it a bit lower so it feels more intimate. You can even place a hot tub on an elevated section.
An Outdoor Kitchen
For homeowners who love to cook for family and friends, an outdoor kitchen is a great addition to any landscape. The prospect of a fresh and delicious meal cooked entirely outside will transform your patio into the hub of outdoor living. Add the amenities which you consider to be the most important, such as a BBQ grill, dishwasher, wine cooler, freezer, or even a wood-fired pizza oven made from beautiful masonry. Once you’ve got the outdoor kitchen installed, your friends and family will flock to your backyard for a tasty meal, good company, and a great atmosphere.
A Vegetable and Herb Garden
Continuing your trend of eating well outside, consider how to add fresh vegetables and herbs grown right from your backyard into your feasts. Use a raised masonry garden bed adjacent to the outdoor kitchen, to become a landscape feature in its own right and offer a convenient space for growing culinary herbs and key vegetables. Add automatic drip irrigation to take away the stress of watering. If you can’t fit a masonry plant bed on your patio, your culinary garden can be built vertically on any unused wall, to support small vegetables and herbs.
An Updated Lighting Strategy
Conserving energy is one of the best ways to lessen your home’s impact on the environment. Since you need to keep your backyard well-illuminated at night for safety and aesthetic reasons, consider using solar-powered LED pathway lights to take some of the pressure off the electricity grid. Place these independent lights along your paths and patios to provide gorgeous and practical illumination all night long and create a layered light effect while making a huge dent in your electricity bills.
A Fire Table
Incorporating the element of fire into your outdoor living experience will help you spend more time outdoors and enhance the experience. A fire table is a wonderful feature to help provide warmth to the cooler nights and bring people together to share a meal. Since they’re fueled by natural gas or propane, fire tables are very clean and controlled. Their designs can look as elegant as you like or as nostalgic as you like. A fire table will modify any gathering space whether for seating or for standing and will help provide ambient light to keep the fun going well into the night.
Related: 4 TIPS TO KEEP YOUR LANDSCAPING LOOKING GREAT ALL SUMMER LONG IN HOLLIS AND AMHERST, NH
