Interesting Ways to Transform Your Boring Outdoor Area into a Gorgeous Retreat
When the weather is soothing, there’s no better pastime than relaxing in the comfort of your own outdoor space. While some people enjoy gatherings with friends, family and the enticing smell of barbecue, others prefer quiet time with a cup of coffee and a good book. Whatever the purpose of your outdoor area is, taking the time and effort to properly design it will increase the curb appeal of your home and make for a more enjoyable time hanging out on your patio. If you’re not sure how to do this, check out a few interesting suggestions that will get your creativity juices flowing.
Lighting Fixtures that Provide Both Functionality and Style
Spending time outdoors during the sunny days offers a lot of possibilities. Whether you’re enjoying an al-fresco meal, soaking up the sun rays and boosting your vitamin D count or playing games with your kids, your garden features a lot in your life in these months. However, evenings in your garden require setting up a different kind of ambience and illuminating your space with proper lighting, as in the case with post lamps.
The best thing about outdoor lighting is that it can blur the line between your indoor and outdoor area. This makes your home seem larger and more uniform. Outdoor lighting not only helps to create an atmosphere, but also helps you with different kinds of tasks as well as wards off intruders. A successful lighting plan consists of three types of lighting:
- Ambient lighting – This type has the sole purpose of creating a certain mood in your garden. It’s the equivalent of background music because you know that it’s there. String lights are a good option here.
- Task lighting – This type of lighting has a specific purpose, such as lighting up your barbecue pit, stairway, or specific décor pieces. Garden post lights are a great task lighting choice.
- Accent lighting – These fixtures feature a specific area of your garden, typically a central tree or a flower bed.
What are the Best Outdoor Task Lighting Fixtures?
The post design is a common lighting fixture that you can see lighting up the city parks, community sidewalks or trails. This type of lights adds a touch of class and elegance to any area and provides a lot of illumination for both practical and aesthetic purposes. Little did you know it makes a great light fixture choice for your home’s outdoors as well.
If you want to choose efficient and elegantly crafted light fixtures for your garden, go for the modern post lamps. Numerous households are applying these peculiar fixtures to spice up their outdoor task lighting. There are several ways that you can use them:
- Light up your driveway – The lighting on your driveway should be bright enough to assist your guests when navigating to your house. These elegant lamps not only offer more illumination than other light fixtures, they also highlight features in your landscaping and improve the overall curb appeal of your home.
- Light up the front door – Use the stylish post lamps to enhance your home’s entry. They help to ward off intruders and double up as stunning décor for your front door.
- Light up the entertaining area – The lamps bring a dose of sophistication and elegance to your patio. They let you enjoy late-night al-fresco dinners or nightly strolls on the manicured lawn.
Enticing Garden Walkways
Walkways are an important part of your landscaping. A well-designed walkway enhances your home’s curb appeal and lets your guests conveniently find their way to your front door. Apart from the usual entrance walkway, there are many other designs you can incorporate that will improve the aesthetic of your outdoor space.
Winding garden walkways are a common type that gives some structure to an ordinary garden filled with plants. Every design creates a unique story and lets you play with your creativity. To help you navigate better at night, align lanterns or post lights on the side of your walkway. This will not only give you a good task lighting, but will also add to the magical atmosphere of your garden.
Lush Greenery
Plants have a huge role in improving your health and beautifying your space. They clean the air and offer a soothing view for the eyes. Studies show that simply looking at greenery can instantly improve your mood and reduce your stress levels. People also find that being surrounded by plants increases their productivity and creativity for working on their daily tasks.
Although the use of indoor plants is quite common, including plants in your outdoors gives you more options and opportunities. After all, the garden is where they thrive the most while getting sufficient sunlight and space to mingle.
However, in this day and age it’s hard to maintain a healthy garden. Every day seems to be overloaded with chores and tasks and you either forget or don’t have the energy to water your plants. Let alone take care of those pesky weeds or insects! Here are a few tips to maintain a healthy garden:
- Apply black mulch to prevent the growing of weeds and create a visual interest in your garden.
- Use modern self-watering planters to keep your plants hydrated and have less responsibilities for watering them.
- Try companion planting. This involves planting different crops together to increase their growth productivity. Companion planting is a common way of keeping your garden and flower beds thriving.
