Tips To Improve The Quality Of Your Outdoor Space And Patio
By Nicole Martins, Fri Dec 9th
It’s easy to get overwhelmed trying to figure out just how tobring an outdoor room together to make it a peaceful spot torelax or enjoy quality time with friends and family. But if youthink of it as yet another room to decorate and furnish, thespace will come together more easily.
Measuring and a simple site analysis
Just as you would for a room inside your home take themeasurements of your patio or outdoor room area. This mostimportant step is essential for scaling in comfortable sizedoutdoor furniture, patio accessories, planters and such. Thenext step is to conduct a simple site analysis. For this youwill want to jot down factors such as the direction (north,south, east, west) your patio is facing, prevailing winds, ifany; areas in sun or shade and any other relevant observationsthat will impact the quality of people spending time in thatspace. Now for the fun part, create a realistic wish listbeginning with how you would like to use your patio: to relax,to entertain friends, to grill/barbeque, to eat outdoors, tohang out with friends and family, to converse, etc. Now go backto your site analysis and determine, if applicable, where youcan start staging the pieces to your outdoor room. But beforeyou do so, here are some tips and ideas for you to consider.
Arrange patio furniture and elements thoughtfully
In order to create a comfortable space with pleasant atmosphereit is important to consider these details: Circulation – howwill people walk through the space; Seating – where will peoplebe sitting; Views - what will people be looking at when sitting.For circulation, you want to position a sitting area in alocation where circulation will not pass directly through,making the space distracting, unless you have no choice. Forcreating comfortable seating for conversation, orient chairs,sofas, and gliders towards each other, 6 to 8 feet apart; thisis a comfortable distance for talking without feeling too close.For views, you can create focal points with trees and shrubs inthe distance, or planters and ornaments closer by. Dealing withwind and sun
From your site analysis you have discovered information abouthow the wind blows. By knowing the direction of the prevailingwinds you can make some good decisions about the placement ofcertain items. First, if you are going to include a grill orbarbeque be sure to locate these accessories in a location inwhich the wind will carry the smoke from the cooking fire awayfrom the outdoor space; there’s nothing more irritating than theuncomfortable sting of a smoky grill. Also, if you have an areawith cold wind, you can block it by creating vertical planes;this can be done by planting trees or shrubs in the ground, orby placing them in planters within or around a part of thepatio. Fences and walls can also help. As for sun, these samevertical planes can screen hot, late afternoon sun. For overheadsun, retractable awnings can be a very effective way to minimizeboth sun and heat. These awnings are designed to extend (open)or retract (close) to create shade or sun options. Other ways tocreate shade from the hot sun: patio umbrellas and trellises,pergolas, or arbors.
Creating a sense of enclosure
Creating a sense of enclosure is a great way to make youroutdoor space more intimate; it is also a great way to createseparation and privacy from your neighbors. Think of the wallsand ceilings inside your home: the walls are the vertical planeand the ceiling is the overhead plane. Outdoors these verticaland overhead planes help create the foundations to an outdoorroom. While you don’t want to overdo it or completely encloseyour outdoor space, adding elements: shrubs, trees, arbors,trellises pergolas and such in a careful way can improve theatmosphere of your patio space. see:http://www.everything-patio-furniture.com/
Buying patio furniture and accessories Once you’ve measured youroutdoor space, done the site analysis and figured out the areawhere you will be putting your outdoor furniture it’s time tobegin reviewing outdoor furniture and accessory options. If yourpatio is very small, you may only want to buy 1 or 2 chairs orloungers for conversation and relaxing, and a small bistro tablewith chairs for snacking. If your space is large, you may belooking for a larger seating arrangement: sofas, chairs, coffeetables, in one area and a patio set with umbrella in another.There are many options and styles available and you can learnmore about the materials and brands available by visiting alocal patio furniture store or by shopping online. Popularfurniture materials include: outdoor wicker, teak, wrought iron,cast aluminum, recycled plastic and casual aluminum. You can buythis furniture individually or as a set such as a dining tablecomplete with chairs. With many patio furniture options tochoose from you can easily create an outdoor space that will bewell used. Additional outdoor decorating accessories such aspatio lamps, fire pits, garden arbors and trellises, and outdoorheaters fit in well to create a great atmosphere outdoors aswell as being extremely functional. For example, outdoor heaterswill greatly extend your time outside, allowing for more time toenjoy yourself outdoors later into fall, and earlier intospring. Outdoor fireplaces such as: chimeneas, fire pits or evena gas outdoor fireplace create a great atmosphere and focalpoint, as well the opportunity to grill, heat, or just enjoyhanging out by the fire.
About the author:Nicole Martins is the editor of Everything Patio Furniture, apatio furniture and accessories review site, which providesvaluable tips and information as well as great products for youroutdoor space. You can visit this site athttp://www.everything-patio-furniture.com
