Outdoor rooms are simply an extension of your home, and whether you live in Ohio or California, one of the biggest home remodeling trends is creating outdoor living space. It can be as simple as fixing up your patio or porch to extend your living space or as major as an addition to your home to compliment your style.
Some people create covered porches, while others create garden rooms with man-made materials or by growing hedges and shrubs in a specific pattern to create a cozy atmosphere. Trellises and arbors are often seen in garden rooms and used to create “living” ceilings or walls.
The Biggest Outdoor Trend: A New Kitchen
At Dover we recently completed an outdoor kitchen for a client. This particular client wanted an additional option for entertaining by opening the windows and patio doors to an exquisite outdoor kitchen/dining space. For these reasons and more, today’s outdoor kitchens are a more elaborate extension of the indoor kitchen and far more sophisticated than a simple charcoal grill.
There are many things to consider when planning your space. Give careful thought to where you place your new outdoor space, because like adding a room to your home, it cannot be easily moved later. If you plan a true outside kitchen space with a sink and electrical hookup, you will need to locate existing utilities and water lines. Consulting a professional home remodeler and designer will prove invaluable at the early planning of your project.
Additionally, you want to think about how many people you will entertain on a regular basis and how elaborate you want your space to be. For example, do you want space to accommodate a bartender or caterer? It’s also important to consider what additional outdoor kitchen accessories and appliances you want to include in your layout. Think about your countertops. Northeast Ohio is tough on outdoor surfaces. Decide which countertops will hold up well and retain their beauty and durability during the winter months. You also should consider what area of your backyard would work best for an outdoor kitchen. You want to consider which direction the prevailing wind comes from, as well as what are the sun and shade angles in the yard? These are just a few things to consider when designing an outdoor living space. A qualified home remodeler can help answer these, and many more questions you may have.
Interestingly, an outdoor kitchen adds a great deal of value to your existing home and you can gain usable square footage without adding an indoor addition. Outdoor kitchens are wonderful for stay-at-home vacations and glamorous entertaining. An outdoor kitchen can naturally flow from the indoors out and maintain the style and integrity of your home so that the indoor decor flows naturally to the outdoors. Ultimately, an outdoor living space should add value to your home as well as value to the way you use your home and a new and exciting way to entertain friends, family and business associates.
The best is yet to come,
Beth Orr
