Posts Tagged Patio

Including the Outdoors in Home Remodeling

A backyard isn’t the same as it used to be – a place to grill, where kids play ball, or just an extra spot to mow. Now the trend is to make the backyard an outdoor retreat or an extension to the house.

As reported in the May 2006 Consumer Reports, designing and furnishing an outdoor room is the second most likely home-remodeling project to do. Specifically, approximately 1.2 million U.S. households will install a fully functional outdoor kitchen, according to a study by the industry research company inquiry.
In 2004, Better Homes and Gardens magazine received survey responses from nearly 60,000 Americans describing home improvement projects and future home-building aspirations. Better Homes and Gardens found that people want indoor/outdoor livability, technological innovations, flexibility for family needs and a kitchen-centric focus. (REMODELING Magazine, September 1, 2005)

Homeowners are seeking ways to make the outdoors a functional part of the living area. To accomplish that, the barriers between outdoors and indoors, such as walls and solid doors, are going away. As cited in “A Simple Way to Increase Outdoor Living Space” at HGPgal.com, for homeowners looking to add to their living space, improve their lifestyle and increase the resale value of their home, the perfect solution is to extend living areas outdoors through the addition of decks, patios, outdoor kitchens and entertainment areas.

“The line between the house and the outdoor space continues to disintegrate,” says Julie D. Taylor, author of Outdoor Rooms. “Many designers are using the same, or similar, materials both on the interior and exterior to extend the house to the outdoors. It breaks down the barrier and gives a feeling of a larger house.”

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Improve Your Home’s Value With Landscape Lighting

With hundreds of home improvement options on the market, most of us are guided towards granite countertops, bathroom and kitchen renovations as a means of increasing our property value or reclaiming some of our costs come time to sell. But there’s another option you don’t hear much about and that’s landscape lighting.

People are drawn to various landscape lighting options with the thought in mind of improving security, safety or functionality. But did you know that the image of your home beautifully lit at night in an online ad can both improve your chances to sell and add to your asking price? Most never even think about it because landscape lighting isn’t something you can really show off during the day when potential buyers are most likely to visit your home.

So how can you turn what should be a sales-boosting feature to your advantage? As already mentioned, be sure a nighttime picture of your home, garden or landscape beautifully illuminated is included in any sales literature. My recommendation is that it be a professional photograph, but if you are a talented shutterbug, you might be able to get away with your own work.

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How Landscaping Can Improve Your Home

There are many homeowners who care just as much about the external appearance of their house, as they do the interior. They may even turn to the services of a outdoor contractor or designer to give them some ideas about how to enhance their yard and landscaping.

Whether it is to enhance your home or business for cosmetic reasons or to make it more salable, a licensed landscaping contractor has the special training needed to handle all of your landscaping needs. They can design a driveway, patio or pool area, do decking and yard grading and give you a completely personalized landscape design. They will show you how the use of a pond and bridge, pools, trees, shrubs and flowers can beautify and enhance your home and increase its value.

The Benefits of Having a Landscaping Professional

Like any other professional, different contractors will be experienced in different areas. When you need professional lighting in your landscaping, of course you would not hire a pool contractor. You will want to find a contractor who only installs and specializes in lighting, this will ensure that the best job will be done.

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