Most homeowners consider their homes a private and intimate space. The property’s design is often tailored to the owner’s unique preferences and lifestyle, built to ensure they attain maximum comfort and protection. According to a Shopping for the Home report, the younger generations (13-39 years old) want to spend more of their time at home, ensuring that design trends are towards investing in efforts to make the residential property comfortable. However, it doesn’t mean you wouldn’t welcome your loved ones into your humble abode.
Sometimes, you might want to invite people over, whether they are your relatives from out of town or your circle of friends. After all, companionship inside your home can bring many social and mental benefits, such as reducing depression and strengthening relationships. Still, you might want to ensure your house has the space to provide comfortable and fun activities for your guests. Fortunately, you can turn your outdoor area into a great entertaining space. Here are a few steps to achieve that home exterior for social gatherings.
Make the Area Lively
Turning your outdoors into a great entertaining space does not have to be complicated. Most homeowners find it challenging to dedicate the time and budget to perform massive renovations and install amenities. Still, you might want to ensure your outdoor area can be a hangout place if your loved ones like fresh air and sunlight. Unfortunately, a concrete floor and overgrown lawn do not exactly provide a welcoming environment. A healthy garden might be necessary if you’re turning the area into a great entertaining space.
A healthy garden can build a lively environment that makes your family and guests want to enjoy the outdoors without leaving the home. Plants, grass, and trees can create that atmosphere, and with a few furniture pieces, you can make an area where you and your guests can stay for hours. However, building a garden from scratch can be challenging. Consider hydroseeding contractors to prepare the area for germination, ensuring seeds can grow fast to attain the aesthetic lawn you see in most well-maintained yards. However, you must be strategic regarding plant and tree placement to ensure that your hangout space is relatively centered enough for proper shading. A professional gardener can help in that regard, allowing you to design and maintain the healthy lawn you need as the foundation of your great entertaining space.
Create Landscaping
A garden provides the environment you need for a hangout space, but it can be messy when people have to go back inside the house. They will track mud and grass into the living room, allowing homeowners to create pathways where guests can walk around without dirtying their shoes. However, it does not mean they cannot do it in style. If a great entertaining space is what you have in mind for the home’s outdoor area, you must incorporate landscaping design within the garden.
Proper landscaping allows people to walk into the backyard without stepping on plants or grass, preventing soil from getting on their shoes while maintaining a healthy garden. Walkways, pathways, lighting fixtures, and other functional items that lead to outdoor amenities should be part of the space to ensure guests know where to go. Landscaping, however, will require proper design, so hiring design contractors with experience in outdoor spaces is necessary. They also have a landscaping supply, utilizing materials like stones and marble to ensure the design is practical and aesthetic. When fully integrated into the garden, your landscaping design can contribute to the home’s curb appeal, making it a great entertaining space even by just looking at the area.
Build a Solid Deck
A well-designed landscape for your backyard might be ideal, but it should not be the only place where people can hang out. They might want a larger space where they can relax, making it vital to get tables, chairs, and lounges into the area. Unfortunately, using those pieces of furniture on the garden soil can be uncomfortable because they might sink or be uneven. As a result, building a deck to hold those furniture pieces should be the next step in your backyard improvements.
An outdoor deck provides a solid floor for your outdoor area, ensuring that everything you need for your activities can happen there. Depending on its size, it can withstand the weight of the entire household and a few guests. Decks are often attached to the house and slightly elevated, so they might be the first area your guests will reach when going outside. Deck builders will work with homeowners to identify a suitable design for their preferences and needs. A deck is where most social gatherings happen, making it an essential addition to the great entertaining space you envision.
Consider Patios
Decks might contain everything you need to host social gatherings, but you might also want to provide your family and friends with a private area with proper shading. When the sun gets too hot, or the rain gets intense, you must go inside the house to protect yourself. Still, you might want to enjoy the outdoors longer. Fortunately, installing a patio provides you with that option.
A patio is a detached amenity from the house, often residing in the far end of a backyard. Unlike outdoor decks, patios have roofing, shading people from harsh weather. It will feel like a private area with its own set of furniture or appliances to keep your guests entertained. Working with a patio contractor is necessary to build the amenity, ensuring it has the proper and durable structure to withstand the elements while providing a peaceful space for outdoor gatherings. Patios might be optional, but they can contribute to a great entertaining space for homeowners.
Add a Porch
Sometimes, your guests might want to hang out in front of the home instead of the backyard. They might be waiting for others to join them or wait for you to answer the door. Getting a porch might be ideal to ensure that your home is a great entertaining space and not just your yard. The porch provides a sort of waiting shed for your guests, ensuring they can relax before social gatherings. Moreover, porches can also copy the patio, offering an isolated space and ensuring that social gatherings are well-spaced.
Designing a porch can be easy, with the structure mostly made up of materials like wood and glass. Design elements like potted plants, rocking chairs, sofas, and carpets complete the look of the area. However, like any outdoor space, the porch can attract pests. If you want to avoid getting bitten by a mosquito or other insects, you might want to get screens. Screened porches can prevent pests from entering the area, ensuring comfort for your family and guests. Moreover, those screens protect the interior from those creatures and dust, maintaining a clean and healthy environment for your family. Contractors specializing in porch design will be necessary, but once you build its structure, you can create the aesthetic design yourself. The porch, patio, and deck complete the trifecta of spaces where your guests can hang out, making your home a great entertaining space.
Install an Outdoor Kitchen
Social gatherings often have activities that keep guests entertained, justifying the moniker of a great entertaining space. One of the most common happenings within those gatherings is eating. Whether it is al fresco dining or a BBQ party, having a space where people can eat will always make your outdoor area a great hangout spot. However, the logistics of preparing and cooking meals in the indoor kitchen and traveling with them to the outdoor area will be inconvenient for both homeowners and guests. As a result, installing an outdoor kitchen might be your next step.
The outdoor kitchen is a luxurious amenity to have, but it can be worth the investment. You can start by installing outdoor kitchen appliances on your outdoor deck. Stoves, grillers, big ovens, and fire pits are ideal for the amenity. Outdoor design contractors can ensure you install those appliances on a solid marble countertop, the go-to material for building an outdoor kitchen. Of course, depending on your home’s overall design and budget, you can select different materials like wood, tiles, and concrete. It is best to contact a company specializing in outdoor kitchen services to design the amenity.
While you might want to use your indoor kitchen silverware for your outdoor one, it presents the same logistical challenge. As a result, you might want to dedicate a storage space for your outdoor kitchen supplies. Custom cabinet makers can ensure enough storage capacity to hold your items. They can also come up with clever designs for storage spaces, preventing onlookers from thinking about stealing stuff from your outdoor kitchen. With the right combination of appliances and storage, your outdoor kitchen can become a fun-to-use amenity for a great entertaining space.
Get a Pool
Amenities can help with attracting guests to your home, but they cannot hold a candle to a swimming pool. The classic outdoor amenity provides a healthy activity for those who partake in it and fun for those who enjoy it. Swimming has plenty of health benefits, making it an ideal amenity for the entire family. If you want to really transform your yard into a great entertaining space, the swimming pool is the best choice.
However, building a pool in your backyard is nearly impossible for the average homeowner. As a result, getting inground pool services is necessary. They can inspect the area to see where the outdoor amenity fits, ensuring you can enjoy other spaces like gardens and patios. If an inground pool takes up a lot of space, you may opt for a hot tub. While smaller in size and can only accommodate a few people at once, it can still provide a refreshing time for homeowners and guests.
Select Other Amenities
Many other amenities exist, such as fire pits, children’s playgrounds, and worksheds. However, you might have limited spacing and budgeting. If you want to gamble on what boosts property value and what can turn the area into a great entertaining space, investing in a swimming pool installation is the best bet. Of course, following your preferences take precedence over what you want to get for your backyard.
If you have children at home, you might want to provide a friendly area for them. They love to explore, which might lead them to the hazardous outdoor kitchen or the allergy-triggering garden. It will be best to consider those potential issues before installing your ideal outdoor amenity.
Protect the Area
With so many amenities and items in your great entertaining outdoor space, you might start to worry about their safety. Onlookers might notice the furniture pieces, the outdoor kitchen appliances, and other parts of your inventory, making them consider stealing from you. Fortunately, you can protect your belongings with a fence.
A fence provides an aesthetic yet intimidating design that prevents potential break-ins and trespasses, giving homeowners a couple of seconds to notice and reach out for help. A fence builder will be essential for creating fences made from wood, composite, or metal panels, whatever your fence needs. With a sturdy fence, you can create the private atmosphere you might want for your guests. However, it should also be coupled with security devices like cameras, motion sensors, and alarms. Those pieces and the fence can make your home feel more private, reducing the chances of your social gatherings from receiving bad news.
Building an aesthetic and healthy backyard will always boost property value and provide a space for people to hang out. However, investing in more improvements can turn the outdoor area into a great entertaining space. Budgeting and building those fixtures might take a while, but you can benefit massively from the results. Of course, don’t forget the essential systems like plumbing and electrical to ensure the outdoor area is functional.
If you want to transform your home’s outdoor area into a great entertaining space, using these tips can help. You are free to do whatever you want with your property, but having guests over will require you to step up your hosting game. Still, getting these might be enough to help you build the yard of your dreams.
