The old saying goes that “home is where you hang your hat” but for a lot of us, that isn’t good enough. For some, a home isn’t someplace you live, but a place you live to be. It’s a place where you are surrounded by family and friends. It’s more than just four walls, a kitchen, some bathrooms, and a place to sleep. You have worked to make your house a home. Home is a place to relax, to entertain, and a place to interact with the people in your life. It’s a place to find comfort and get away from it all, but also a place to be social and a space to share with others. But your home doesn’t just begin and end at the threshold of your front door. Your home is whatever you want to make it! And your outdoors aren’t anymore a place where you just put water on your lawn anymore than your home is some kind of glorified hat rack!
There is a whole other aspect of your home just waiting for you outside your doors. For someone with your enthusiasm for DIY projects, it’s all within your reach!
Home Garden
Source: Dreaming Gardens
Start off small with a garden! With some basic landscaping skills, you can turn large parts of your backyard into a garden. Fill your landscape with color, either with annual and perennial flowering plants, or kick it up a notch by planting a vegetable garden. With fresh lettuce, tomatoes, herbs, and other veggies, you will have fresher-than-farm produce ripe for the picking for salads, stews, or sides for your next get-together! The reduction of lawn area also means less use of water and depending on the plants in your garden, you can increase the presence of butterflies, birds, and even make your yard a delight for the senses!
Firepits & Outdoor Bars
For centuries, people have gathered around fire (long before they were gathering around the TV). There are a variety of ways to bring fire to your back yard with a firepit! Either gas/propane or a wood fired pit, you can spend hours in the summer evenings with your friends and family talking in the firelight. Combine that with a portable outdoor bar and you can beat the heat with a cool drink in your hand!
Install a Pergola
A pergola is a classic way to allow cool breezes in while giving your patio a nice, open area with shade in the late time of day when it is hot and an unobstructed view of the stars at night. Hanging outdoor lights can give your pergola better lighting as well as create a warm, festive feeling for summers of entertaining on the patio!
Outdoor Dining
Source: MLH Patio
The kitchen has been a place to gather in the home almost as long as fire has been around. So why not bring your kitchen outside? During the summer months, nobody wants to be stuck inside a hot kitchen anyway, so having it outside only stands to reason when you are entertaining. No longer limited to just grilling meat and bringing things out in plastic containers when it’s time to eat, you can create gourmet meals outside while everyone socializes, just as though you were indoors!
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