Best Outdoor Living Spaces for Ultimate Relaxation and Enjoyment

Types of Outdoor Living Spaces

There are many different types of outdoor living spaces.

Patios, decks, porches, allow you to enjoy the fresh air and the great outdoors while still connected to your indoor space. It can be as simple as a concrete slab or wooden desk with a little bit of patio furniture, but if you think of the space like another room in your house, you can really bring the space to the next level.

Outdoor living rooms, kitchens, or dining rooms, are a great way to add entertaining or leisure space to your main house just by leveraging the power of landscaping. This is about taking your space from "a front porch with seating options" to "a beautiful outdoor living room designed to be the perfect spot to spend your sunny days with friends and family".

Adding a pergolas, gazebo, or some other roof structure is a great way to add shade and comfort to your outdoor living room, and help to make it feel inviting and comfortable. The ceiling contrasted against open sides/walls can make your space feel more complete and lends a more seamless transition between your outdoor and indoor spaces, all while protecting you from the elements.

Designing Your Outdoor Space

When designing your backyard project, it's important to understand what your goals are, and what your working with.

Assess your backyard space’s size and shape to determine the best location for you outdoor living area. Keep in mind what you'd like to do in the space, and how you want it to look and feel.

Sometimes these projects can be quite intensive - it's worth considering whether you should hire a landscape designer or landscape architect in order to take full advantage of your space.

Creating a Wish List for Your Outdoor Space

It's useful to make a wish list of the features and amenities you want in your outdoor living space. Even if you it's not in your budget to get everything right away, writing everything down at the outset can help you to have an ideal vision to build around.

A wish list also also helps you to plan ahead. When you know what you want the space to look like and have in the future, you can make sure that everything is installed in a way that is conducive to future projects.

Outdoor Room Essentials

Key Components of an Outdoor Living Room

A comfortable seating area, outdoor furniture, and decor are essential components of an outdoor living room. Usually the seating is set up around a focal point - that can be a coffee table, an outdoor fireplace, or a television. This circle (or semicircle) around a focal point helps to give the space a sense of purpose and meaning, tying all the furniture together and helping the outdoor living room to have a cohesive feel.

Choosing the Right Furniture and Decor

When choosing outdoor furniture, look for pieces that are durable, comfortable, and stylish. This is your chance to show off your unique aesthetic and vision in your backyard, so take your time in looking for the right style!

There are a lot options out there in garden stores and online - everything from natural and rustic to sleek and modern. Sometimes it's helpful to think like and interior designer when approaching a project like this.

Colorful throw pillows and outdoor rugs can add texture and a sense of warmth to your outdoor space. Just make sure to choose colors and materials that are optimized for the outdoors in order to keep things low maintenance; nobody wants to spend every weekend cleaning rugs and cushions!

Whatever you do, make sure you're keeping in mind the surrounding landscape. Choose a style that will compliment the natural beauty of whatever plants and foliage you have in your yard.

Functional Outdoor Living Spaces

There are a lot of ways to make your yard and patio more functional as a living space! Here a few ideas:

Adding storage and organization to your yard and deck (using thing like outdoor cabinets or shelves) goes a long way towards keeping your backyard clutter-free.

A covered porch or patio provides protection from the elements. This can be accomplished through an outdoor structure like a gazebo or pergola. A motorized louvered pergola allows even more flexibility, letting you choose between full shade/protection and direct sunlight at the touch of a button.

Heating elements (like fireplaces or electric heaters) are a great way to get more use out of your outdoor space in the chilly evenings and colder months. And in a the heat, fans (combined with a shade structure) can help keep air circulating and provide a comfortable outdoor space even in the heat of summer.

Outdoor Kitchens and Dining Areas

Outdoor kitchens

An outdoor kitchen with appliances and storage can be a functional and enjoyable cooking space for grilling, cookouts, or even fancy dinners. Whether you're entertaining, or just grilling with family on your patio, a kitchen in the backyard really breaks up the day to day monotony of regular cooking.

Outdoor kitchens are also another avenue to express your sense of style: Stainless steel appliances can create a modern and sleek look, or you try a more natural style with wood and stone textures!

Outdoor dining areas

An outdoor seating area with decor to create a cozy and inviting atmosphere. A table and a few chairs goes a long way towards a more enjoyable outdoor experience.

If you're planning on doing a lot of entertaining in your yard, multiple seating areas allow you to segment things out between a dining area and an outdoor living room with its own space for relaxation and entertainment. And, in a pinch, this setup will provide plenty of flexibility; you can using the living space as a second dining area.

Ambiance and Lighting

Exterior Lighting Options for Outdoor Living Spaces

If you have covered patio or porch that you want to use after the sun goes down, outdoor lighting becomes absolutely essential. Exterior lighting options, such as string lights or lanterns, can also add ambiance and warmth to your outdoor living room.

Some lighting options are pretty easy to DIY. Just plug them or add batteries, and you're good to go. Other proper light fixtures require some electrical know-how. We always recommend getting a licensed electrician for anything that you're not 100% comfortable doing yourself.

A wood burning fireplace or fire pit can be another way create a cozy and inviting atmosphere in your outdoor living space. As a bonus, any fire feature adds a striking focal point to build a seating area around.

Conclusion

With proper planning and the right materials, you can build and enjoy an outdoor living room for years to come! It just takes a little plotting and designing, and a lot of patience. If you're looking for more ideas, look through some of our other blog posts on designing outdoor spaces!

If you're in the market for a pergola, contact our sales team; we'd like to help make your outdoor living space dreams come true!