4 elements for a successful outdoor environment
When you picture your perfect outdoor area, what do you see?
As much as we all love to get cozy in the living room, a backyard is the truest of sanctuaries. Indeed, your outdoor space can be just as inviting, comfortable, and stylish as your interiors, but it also offers fresh air and nature.
In my 25 years as a landscape designer, there have been several times I’ve been invited for a consultation, and the homeowner points to their outdoor space and laments “we never go outside, we don’t use the space.“
In said patio, courtyard, or backyard is a chair that looks painful to sit in, under the hot baking sun, on a sad patch of grass or concrete. A space lacking charm, or personality…in short, lacking an invitation to go outside.
I believe that an outdoor living space is a vital aspect of a beautiful home. When done well, landscape design and outdoor design has the power to greatly increase the value of your home. More importantly, it can significantly enhance the enjoyment, functionality and even energy efficiency of your home.
Some days you want an entertaining outdoor space, and other days you want a relaxing space. You want to focus on beautiful architecture while hosting a fun area.
In my quest to get people outside I have found that there are four elements that prove to be very useful when approaching a landscape design project:
· Fire.
· Water
· Shelter.
· Comfort.
Outdoor living should focus on elements that bring nature’s beauty to our home. These elements can be as extravagant or as simple as your budget or comfort level allow. Here are a few ways to introduce them into your outdoors.
Fire.
A fire feature not only provides a beautiful aesthetic appeal but also lends warmth on cold nights. A fire pit or fire place is always an amazing way to get people outside under the stars looking at each other’s glowing faces, and hopefully having a profound conversation.
There is something about sitting around a fire, either with a group or by yourself, that is calming, relaxing, and allows you to recharge. However, other ways to bring fire into your outdoor environment, could be as simple as a grouping of candles, or of course, the famous backyard barbecue or pizza oven.
As a local landscape designer, I always try to integrate fire elements into my landscape design.
Water.
The sound of trickling water has a visceral calming effect. As with the sight of fire, water soothes our “caveman“ nerves; we know that we will be warm, and we know that we will have water the clan will survive another day.
Water could also be a spa or a pool, and it could also be as simple and life-giving as well installed irrigation system.
Water can add movement and life to the non-living features in your yard by balancing the display of rocks, retaining walls, pathways, fire-pits, and other more structured components. To many homeowners it helps turn their outdoor space into something that feels energizing, rejuvenating, and inviting for all. I always enjoy to integrate water features into my clients garden design.
Shelter.
This one often gets overlooked in landscape design. If you want to spend time outside during the day, there’s a good chance you’re going to need some shelter.
This could be an umbrella, an awning, a built structure (pergola) or a tree.
It could also be a poolside retreat, a shelter for an outdoor entertainment center, a place to nap or swing, a bit of privacy around your hot tub — shelter ideas cover a lot of ground.
Outdoor living is all about enjoying every part of your home. As a landscape designer, I love being creative to design and add shelter elements into your backyard design.
Comfort.
A nice place to sit with your morning tea, a spot to put your feet up, a chaise lounge under an umbrella. These are all somewhat necessary items that enable enjoyment of your outdoor space.
Seating is one thing, but a deep seating set, lounge chairs, loungers, or chaise lounges allow you to stretch out and relax, whether it's under an umbrella, by a swimming pool, or on a deck.
If the seating is comfortable, you're more likely to kick back and spend some time outside, rather than sit down, say, at a patio dining table, eat a grilled burger, then go back inside.
Follow along for the next few months as we dig deeper into each of these elements in an effort to get you living outside!
Sincerely
Molly Wood
Molly Wood Garden Design
