Embracing outdoor living means more than designating the perfect spot for your BBQ. To experience as much use out of your landscape as you envision, you will want similar amenities and creature comforts to what you enjoy indoors. Wondering which “landscapers near me” can help turn this vision into a reality? Start by understanding your options for extending your living footprint for your Macomb, MI, home.
Related: How to Find the Best Landscapers Near Me in Macomb, MI
Looking at the Big Picture
Hardscape experts look at the big picture: how you intend to use the space, landscape features, needs, material choices, traffic flow, convenience, and aesthetic appeal. How will the outdoor living space integrate into the property (and how will it serve as a transition between indoor living and the great outdoors beyond the patio)? What features will give you the feel you want, and still stay within your budget? How will the living space relate to views, privacy, traffic flow, and activity zones? It’s not just about creating a great outdoor living space; it’s about integrating it into the surroundings in a beautiful and functional way.
Creating a Welcoming Living Space
The challenge is to create a space that every family member will love—taking into consideration their needs as individuals while creating a cohesive space that works for everyone. One way to achieve this is to divide an outdoor living space just as you divide rooms in a home, by using greenery or masonry walls, installing multiple levels (on a sloped lot), and ensuring that each activity zone is just as welcoming and appealing as any other.
Bringing Nature Closer
A great outdoor living space isn’t just about the patio. It’s about the space around it, how the hardscape fits into its natural surroundings, and about the transitional area between the patio and the landscape. Think about how separations occur in your house—unless you have a completely open-concept home, you have hallways or doorways leading from one room to the next. How does this translate to the outdoors? Pillars can be used to define entry points while seating walls can be used to outline the perimeter. Trees can be planted to provide shade as well as a sense of enclosure as they mature. Your landscaper will talk to you about the visual and practical impact of a seating wall, a step, a paver border, a flower bed, or a rock garden, and how each will affect the look and feel of your patio area.
Developing Focal Points
When you look out your window, something has to entice you to go outside. It could be a stunning view, or, in the absence of sweeping vistas, it could be a focal point such as a custom outdoor fireplace, an elevated hot tub, or a “secret” meditation nook hidden in a wooded area. A landscape designer can create focal points even in the most ordinary suburban backyard—and instantly transform the ordinary into “wow.”
Creating After-Dark Enjoyment
Good landscape lighting will make your outdoor spaces safe and welcoming after dark. Clever use of downlights, spotlights, uplights, and other landscape lighting fixtures and techniques will brighten the space and create the right ambience for each activity zone.
Protecting Your Privacy
Giving your outdoor living space a sense of privacy will make everyone feel more relaxed. Living fences or masonry walls will block unattractive views and nosy neighbors while adding beauty to your space.
Even if a simple grill station is the only item on your wish list, your landscapers can make the area around the grill station functional, inviting, and beautiful. So, even if the grill isn’t fired up, everyone will still want to be outside!
Related: 2 Reasons to Look for Landscapers Near Me That Belong to Professional Organizations in Troy, MI
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