One of the most convenient and easy ways to enjoy the outdoors is just by hanging in your very own backyard—and what better way to make the whole experience better than investing in a couple of outdoor features? However, it’s crucial to choose features that perfectly balance the budget, appeal, and used to add monetary value, comfort, functionality, charm, and warmth to your home.
With that in mind, here are the best outdoor features you need to consider adding to your landscape.
Outdoor Lighting
You can complete your outdoor living space’s aesthetic by adding efficient lighting, making it brighter and safe since it’ll prevent individuals from tripping in the dark while transforming your outside property into a more inviting place. Excellent use for outdoor lighting is adding them alongside your paved pathways, using asphalt to make them easier to maintain and durable.
Outdoor Kitchen
One of the best and functional features you can have outdoors is an outdoor kitchen. A second kitchen outside saves you from making trips back and forth between your indoor kitchen and outdoor space while creating an excellent area for entertaining guests. Whether you place this feature in the backyard or rooftops in a bustling city, it provides you with a convenient cooking space that feels less like a chore. Grills are often at the center of outdoor kitchens. However, with the right setup, you can make dishes other than traditional barbecued meat.
Finally, the last ingredient that every outdoor kitchen needs are a seating area, ranging from standard picnic tables to full bars.
Fireplace or Fire Pit
Adding a fire feature to your outdoor area can transform it into one that’s inviting and warm, making your outside living space more comfortable. It’s just the thing that can keep you outside on cold summer nights while making it an excellent winter feature for milder climates. Backyard fires can be as simple as a hole in the ground or something more intricate like a marble-gas-fueled outdoor fireplace, depending on how much you’re willing to spend.
However, for those individuals living in urban communities, a portable fire pit is ideal. If that’s too traditional for you, another famous and attractive choice is the chimney, which is essentially an outdoor fireplace with a short chimney. Finally, regardless of the type of fire pit or fireplace you go for, ensure it’s legal in your area beforehand.
Any Water Feature
The best element to add to any outdoor space is water features. Water can offer soothing sounds alongside a dimension of fresh tranquility. It can take several forms, ranging from small water fountains to massive cascading waterfalls, depending on how wet and fun you want to make your outdoor space—and how big your land is. A popular water feature among homes with larger outdoor spaces is koi ponds full of colorful carp fish.
However, if you’re looking for something more manageable and affordable, medium-sized fountains that are mountable on the walls or those you can perch on pedestals are ideal.
Enclosure
If you’re looking to create an outdoor space with a sense of purpose, establishing an enclosure is ideal. It provides a feeling of a beginning and end, letting people know that certain areas in your outdoor living space are for use and others are only for decorative purposes. For instance, seating areas in your backyard can have an individual floor, setting it apart from the actual lawn’s grass, making it stand out.
Other examples include laying down designs using brick and gravel as their foundation, separating the living space from the rest of your outdoor property. However, of all the enclosures, pergolas are the most popular choice. That’s because they offer an ‘enclosure’ that’s still open yet secure. Most people add vines and other crawling plants around the posts or lattices of pergolas, adding a natural touch.
Outdoor Dining Space
No outdoor living space is complete without bringing the dining room outside to enjoy meals with friends and family under clear skies, picnic style. Nowadays, outdoor dining spaces are so thorough that they look like they belong inside until you look at them closer and see they’re designed to withstand the outdoors’ harsh elements. Some of these outdoor living spaces come with long and full tables like ones you’d see in standard dining rooms, while others would be more casual and have a bar-like setting.
Get inspired by the affordable, attractive, and functional outdoor features mentioned to help you make the most out of your living space, adding value alongside great aesthetics and functionality. Each one is practical and doesn’t require much effort nor money.
