Creating an outdoor living area that serves as a natural retreat or functional room will not only change your lifestyle but might just change your life!

Outdoor living areas provide areas to entertain, spend time with family and friends, and to simply enjoy ones natural surroundings. Here in Jacksonville, our great climate means there’s plenty of days to use outdoor space. Some common outdoor living area features include fire pits, gazebos, water features, fountains, outdoor kitchens, patios, decks, screened-in porches, outdoor lighting, outdoor play structures, pools and hot tubs.

Bringing the elements of nature to an outdoor living area helps create a restful and relaxing environment. An example of this is outdoor fireplaces, which are gaining in popularity – this can be as simple and inexpensive as purchasing a fire ring or as in-depth as building an outdoor fire place.

The sound, sight and feel of water is another way of bringing nature to your outdoor space. Again, this can be as easy as purchasing a small fountain or building a large and in-depth water feature with water falls, pools and streams. We enjoy these things in our landscape because they bring nature to us.

Defining space is important – building patios and decks that define proper spaces is very popular and helps create a defined outdoor environment. Structure and definition are also very important consideration and are most often achieved by using outdoor lighting. Outdoor lighting creates definition and perspective that would otherwise go unnoticed and lost.

Over the years, the most frequent feedback I’ve received from clients who’ve built outdoor living spaces is the dramatic increase in time spent outside. All note it was worth creating outdoor places for to dine, relax, and unwind. Recently, one client who was considering moving in order to have more entertaining room, opted instead to create an outdoor entertaining area with a patio cover, outdoor kitchen and large seating area. The newly constructed outdoor living area essentially added a new dream kitchen/great room to their beloved home, enabling them to remain in their wonderful neighborhood for years to come at a fraction of the price of moving and remodeling!

Adam Haynes is the owner of Artisan Landscapes Inc. He can be reached at 541.292.3285 or adam@artisanlandscapesinc.com. See also www.artisanlandscapesinc.com