Outdoor Patio Trends

Busy Landscape Designers and Architects are seeing trends in what their customers are asking for in an outdoor patio. The days of closing in a small serene room have changed to more open views featuring effectiveness of a full kitchen and bar for outdoor use combined with natural elements of water and fire that are easily adaptable for family use or adult entertainment.

High end stove tops or pizza ovens are utilized with flare for fun outdoor cooking and entertainment. Elegant bars made of durable marble stocked with local libations are becoming a staple in Colorado. Imagine designing a dream home or entertainment area without walls. Imagine having the same access to commercial kitchen utensils as your favorite upscale restaurant. After all, hanging out in the kitchen is the entertainment and the reason most of us love to go to a kitchen friendly party. Keeping the outdoor feel without the bugs, rain or wind is sometimes tricky but a Landscape Architect is a master at planning these and should be consulted for the layout, material and installation of any good outdoor living space.

Another trend is to include water such as water features like fountains and/or bird baths. These can take center stage on the patio or merely be installed as background enhancements. They help to create a relaxing environment as well as a place to clean the occasional sticky finger. Fire pits are also very trendy. The small, metal or brick framed circle pits that sit low on the ground allow for gazing across through the fire flicker at a loved one as well as open conversation with a colleague extending the use of the patio well into the cooler evening hours.

Additional features can be added to enhance the use of the space. Shelves can be added for computers stations for the kids or small televisions for the latest Food Network episode or local baseball game viewing. Wireless speakers are possible and can be mounted for hours of piped musical entertainment setting the mood for an evening of entertainment. Even small refrigerators are perfect to limit the countless trips inside for cooking ingredients, etc.

It seems almost whatever you can dream up or what is available indoors can be modified and utilized in some version on an outdoor patio. Outdoor kitchen areas featuring comfortable seating around the fire pit or at the bar will become the favorite place for your guests to hunker down and your outdoor patio will soon become your favorite go to place at your home.