With a backyard at home, you can easily create a getaway oasis – hence, your very personal refuge spot, your haven, the place where you can relax, enjoy the family, entertain friends, spend most days throughout the year.
How? The backyard and outdoor living solutions in Los Angeles especially, where the weather is nice most of the time, are plenty.
How can you choose the best solutions for you? Let your backyard lead the way. Its size, inclination, condition will actually tell you what to do. And then, it’s about the family budget. How much do you want to spend? And don’t forget that not all people like the same things, do the same things, engage in the same activities, and have the same taste. So, it’s all about you. Should we throw some ideas at you?
Say goodbye to clutter (first things first)
Backyards are not livable if they are cluttered. Various items – often broken or hardly used – scattered all over the backyard must be removed. Only then you can grasp the magnitude of the size, the space, the potential of the backyard, anyway.
Build an outdoor kitchen
Building an outdoor kitchen is one of the best things you can do, given that you like to cook, eat, and do it outside. Creating an outdoor cooking area will give you the chance to really spend more time outdoors and grill in a well-equipped kitchen without affecting the indoor environment. The outdoor kitchen ideas are plenty and you don’t even have to go big. You basically need a counter with a sink, the grill or oven, some closed storage space, and it would be nice if you got an outdoor refrigerator too.
Add a deck
A beautiful outdoor deck will act as the extension of the house, making it look bigger too, and will create a neat environment. Alternatively, you can opt for a patio made of stone, concrete, or brick. Such materials are easy to maintain, long lasting and truly gorgeous. But let’s face it, nothing compares with the warmth and elegance of wood.
Create cozy corners
Create a dining area, especially if you decide on having an outdoor kitchen built. Big or small, it doesn’t matter. What matters is to have a place where you can eat. Do you know what else will take the backyard up a notch? The addition of a sofa and some chairs – a real outdoor living room. Oh, well, it all depends on the size of the backyard. If there is enough space, you can work wonders. I mean, who wouldn’t love a hot tub or even a swimming pool? How about a hammock? Or some chaise lounges where you can really stretch, relax, or even take a nap? Feeling comfortable already?
Cover with a pergola
It’s good to have some kind of shade and protection from the elements. A wooden pergola would work well with a wooden deck. Add some clothing, plants, or vines and you got yourself your very own paradise. For even better protection, invest in a gazebo. If you want a solution that won’t cost much, get a big umbrella or awning. But it’s good to cover some areas – the outdoor kitchen and the seating area, for example.
Warm up with an outdoor fireplace or fire pit
Make your backyard livable for nearly the entire year but adding some form of heat. An outdoor fireplace is always a fabulous idea. Alternatively, you can get an outdoor fire pit. Both choices warm up the backyard, the environment too.
Create a beautiful landscape
If there are hardly plants and trees in your backyard, it’s time for some landscaping. No backyard looks good without some greenery. And it’s good to choose plants that effortlessly flourish in your location, while the landscape must be designed to make the backyard an oasis.
Enhance your privacy
Yes, you need to think of your privacy, even if there’s no neighbor close by. Who can truly relax without having privacy – it’s a matter of security too, if you think about it! Fences, lattices, walls, and screens provide privacy and also, protect from the elements too.
Add outdoor lighting
Don’t forget the outdoor lighting, or you’ll be dining in the light shed by candles alone. And while that sounds very romantic – something you can do anytime, you still need some basic lights over the outdoor cooking area, the counter, the dining table, the seating area – hence, you need different types of outdoor lighting.
Then you just turn on the lights, stretch your legs in the chaise lounge, and simply think of what you can prepare for dinner in your outdoor kitchen. The epitome of relaxation.
