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Inside Tips on Outside Plans
Inside Tips on Outside Plans
ARTICLE HIGHLIGHTS:
Be proactive and plan your outdoor space before the new home construction phase. Home design guru Cheryll Gillespie has suggestions for homeowners to consider when planning how to craft their outdoor areas and optimize the usage of exterior areas.
Need a local, pre-screened expert to help you design your outdoor space? Find them on casaGURU.
Today's new homeowners are enjoying their homes from the outside looking in. In the construction phase, the trend in lifestyle and design is to create and place as much emphasis on outside spaces and exterior rooms as on the interior finishing and design. The traditional barbecue has moved out to make room for outdoor kitchens with built-in ovens, grills and woks, fixed natural stone, tile, or concrete counter tops with stylized faucets, as well as sinks and cabinets.
Water features are one of the key components to successful outdoor rooms. As homeowners and builders, we must not underestimate the power of:
- A bubbling pond
- A Spa
- Fountains
- Lap and infinity pools
- Showers
- Trickling water
Many new home purchasers think that outside spaces can be planned and dealt with after the construction and finishing of the home. This results in a waste of both time and money.
As the architect is considering how to place the home on the lot, he or she should also be taking your exterior living needs into consideration. Make a list of all the ways you want to use the exterior spaces:
- Dining (for how many)
- Entertaining
- Relaxing retreat
- Exercising
- Cooking
Electrical, Plumbing & Gas
- Before the electrical and plumbing plans are drawn up, you need to consider the extent of electrical, plumbing and gas required in these exterior rooms.
- Low-voltage outdoor lighting casts a soft glow on surrounding garden structures.
- Specialized exterior task lighting fixtures allow you to work and read with the same comfort as any indoor light fixture.
- All outdoor features require electrical feeds, gas and/or water lines. It is far less expensive to have the electrical, gas and plumbing contractors run lines and prepare accommodations for these amenities now.
- You may even decide to have the electrician run a cable for the TV outdoors and high-tech stereo systems with a built-in sound.
Concrete
The concrete contractor will need to be aware of all your exterior plans as he can pour:
- Footings and pads for decks and patios
- Beds for hot tubs, swimming pools and water features
- Build built-in planters and benches
Intermezzo Between Home and Nature
- The goal of constructing exterior rooms is that they will expand your living space and will also serve as an intermezzo between home and nature; therefore, you will want to visually tie the indoor and outdoor space together.
- This can be done with similar flooring material — either with colour or the same material.
- If you have used stone inside, you might want to use the same stone or a stone in a similar tone on the outside.
- If you have a wood floor inside, you could tie the two areas together with stone or ceramic tiles in a similar tone.
- The use of natural elements inside and outside the home is a key factor in a successful living space, since the elements connect the two areas and create a visually larger space.
Look for every opportunity to blur the line between indoor and outdoor spaces.
