After a long day, taking a relaxing moment to enjoy a cool breeze and the smell of freshly cut grass is very rewarding. There’s no better place to enjoy the great outdoors than your own home. If your home’s outdoor space is lacking inspiration, you’re in good hands. This guide showcases some of the most popular and relaxation-inducing additions to backyards of any size to inspire serenity and peace in your hectic life.
Take a Seat
You can’t enjoy your outdoor space without a place to sit and relax. Add furniture near your patio, gardens, or front porch to provide multiple relaxing areas. Consider adding lounge furniture, hammocks, rocking chairs, or swinging furniture to enrich and diversify your selection. Make sure the furniture you include is rain-resistant and meant for outdoor use. Including options to sit and unwind near your scenic sanctuary can remind you to take time and smell the flowers (literally).
Wind Down With Water
There’s nothing quite like the sound of a gentle stream or deer scare when you’re in the middle of nature. Adding fountains, streams, waterfalls, or any kind of water feature that meshes well with your tastes can encourage relaxation and improve the view significantly.
Waterfalls and features typically require a pump, but installation is relatively easy—and you can always hire help. You can even add a fish pond or lake if you have room. A swimming pool or spa (or both!) can also add to the amenities of your patio or garden. An in-ground pool can blend in with your outdoor space style easily.
Flourishing Flora
Adding plants and trees to your outdoor space is an excellent choice. Plants, particularly trees, can add shade to your outdoor space to take a break from the sun’s powerful rays; birch, poplar, and sycamore, in particular, can provide some perfect shade. Trees can also add privacy around your property, making a garden feel more secret and secluded.
Bamboo, willows, oaks, and cypress provide great privacy coverage. Trees also make great natural posts for swinging furniture, tire swings, or hammocks. Flowers add a touch of color to your outdoor retreat, scenting the air with rich fragrance and enticing beautiful creatures like birds and butterflies to pay a visit. Roses, magnolias, and gardenias are famous for their fragrance. Flowers can decorate your patio and outdoor furniture, too.
Private Retreat
Trees can provide adequate privacy in your yard. Consider constructing a wall or tall fence around the perimeter of your property to enclose your space even more. An entirely private outdoor space can allow you to relax and enjoy the sunshine without worrying about prying eyes. Additionally, if you have pets, they can run around your garden freely and enjoy the outdoor space with you.
Picturesque Pathways
Adding designated paths to your outdoor space can improve flow. Pathways made of gravel, mulch, or stepping stones can add contrast and beauty to any garden or patio. Creating a path throughout your outdoor space isn’t difficult; it only requires leveling the terrain and pouring the material of your choice. You can even have materials delivered to your doorstep for easier access. (I’ve discovered that finding mulch or gravel delivery near me can cut the job time nearly in half).
Share Your Space
Picture this: beautiful birds sing a treasured song exclusively to you while bumblebees and butterflies release fragrant flowers into the air. A butterfly lands delicately on the space around you, showcasing its vibrant wings. Does this sound ideal? If so, you need to create a space that welcomes this environment.
You can host rich, flowering plants around your garden space to coax butterflies and bees to enjoy the space with you. Add bird feeders and trees to host a wide variety of birds. A hummingbird feeder can entice exotic hummingbirds to flit around you, too! By sharing the space with nature, you can benefit from each other and provide a thriving sanctuary for the ecosystem.
Exotic Eatery
Consider outdoor kitchen amenities if you relish the idea (pardon the pun) of enjoying a home-cooked outdoor meal. Hosted right on your patio, an oven, grill, or smoker can create delicious outdoor dishes as you enjoy the space around you. To top it off, add a small wet bar to make some tasty cocktails. Outdoor kitchens are pretty trendy in modern homes and can encourage anyone to enjoy a patio space. They’re also great for property value.
Shady Serenity
While sunshine is excellent for you in small doses, UV rays can severely damage your skin. Catching a break from the sun’s warmth is also a plus, as direct sunlight in the summer months can turn your outdoor retreat into a sauna. Shade is the perfect way to combat the sun’s harmful UV rays while enjoying a beautiful day.
Trees provide natural shade, and a patio space can utilize picturesque pergolas or gorgeous gazebos to respite from the scorching sun. Retractable awnings or umbrellas can also spruce up patios or outdoor tables. A combination of these shade options can diversify any backyard.
Conclusion
There are many ways to spruce up an outdoor space and make it a serene sanctuary. Adding flowers and trees can give a yard fragrance, beautiful wildlife, color, privacy, and shade. Water features can provide lovely sights and sounds while you relax. Outdoor kitchens can entice anyone to enjoy an outdoor space. Don’t forget to add places to sit or lounge to immerse yourself fully in your retreat.