5 Ways Outdoor Living Landscaping Can Extend Your Home

More than ever, homeowners are enhancing their outdoor spaces and adding room for entertaining and relaxing. There are many good reasons to expand your living areas outdoors and just as many options to make it happen.   

Improving your outdoor space adds curb appeal to your home, making it more inviting for future home buyers. But more importantly, it provides an enticing getaway only a few steps from your door! With the right outdoor living landscape design, you can add a family room, dining room or even a kitchen.  

Explore Outdoor Additions  

There are many ways to enhance your outdoor space. You want the result to be just as you imagined, so find a landscape professional who will turn your visions into reality.   

Rice’s offers expert landscaping advice. The Rice’s design team will review your space, and make suggestions for both softscape and hardscape, depending on your vision. (Softscape refers to trees, shrubs and perennials while hardscape refers to any man-made structures and additions – patios, pergolas, fireplaces and firepits, stairs and walkways, retaining walls and more.)  

We can design a landscape plan to enhance your home’s outdoor area, and you reap the benefits with increased curb appeal and usable space.   

Outdoor Fireplaces and Firepits 

Having an area for entertainment is a goal for many homeowners. With an outdoor fireplace or firepit, you have the perfect spot for warm summer days, dining al fresco and chilly fall evenings.  

The best outdoor fireplaces or firepits give you a focal point for your entertainment area, providing warmth and ambiance. And what’s a backyard gathering without s’mores?   

There are options for outdoor propane fireplaces, outdoor natural gas fireplaces and wood-burning outdoor fireplaces.   

At Rice’s, we think your outdoor space should fit your lifestyle and your landscape. We even offer 3D site design, to make it easier to visualize the process.

Outdoor Kitchen Areas and Grill Islands 

Bring your cooking and dining outdoors. By designing an outdoor kitchen or outdoor grill island, you enhance your entertaining and dining options. Outdoor dining areas can be as simple or as elaborate as you like. There are small outdoor kitchens with cooking or grilling space and larger outdoor kitchens with refrigerators and more complete kitchen accessories.   

From stone pizza ovens to covered kitchen areas with built-in appliances, the options are endless. Rice’s can help you plan and build the outdoor kitchen of your dreams.   

These outdoor kitchens or outdoor grill islands can be enhanced with pergolas, hardscaping that provides beauty and privacy (retaining walls, walkways and paths, landscape lighting) and plants and trees that add color and life to your space.

Pergolas 

Adding a pergola to your landscape provides both visual interest and some shade. Pergolas can be made from natural wood or composite.   

In addition to providing a bit of shade, pergolas can offer some privacy. This can be ideal on a patio or surrounding a dining area. With the right pergola design, your new structure will integrate perfectly with your landscaping.   

Rice’s can design and build your custom pergola and help you find the right landscaping to surround it.

Fencing

Adding home fencing to your property can provide privacy and an attractive boundary for pets and children. If you’re considering fencing for your yard, talk to Rice’s design team. We can select the right fence and planting combinations to enhance and provide privacy for your property.

Outdoor Landscape Lighting 

One landscaping design element that’s often forgotten, but packs a punch when it comes to impact, is outdoor landscape lighting. Adding outdoor lighting serves two purposes – safety and beauty. With the right placement, lighting makes great landscaping look even better.   

If you often enjoy your backyard at night, or entertain well into the evening, outdoor lighting is essential. The lighting can include floodlights, spotlights, walkway and path lights, deck lighting, stair and step lights and other specialty lighting.  

Rice’s team will design a lighting plan, and our installation crews will install the fixtures and equipment to light up your home, walkways, plant beds, trees, patio or swimming pool. If you choose our Estate Landscape Management, we will also maintain your lighting for you.

Improve Your Outdoor Space   

The landscape designers at Rice’s want to give you the perfect outdoor space. These are just a few of the ideas we have to improve your surroundings. Contact us to discuss your vision for outdoor living that you’ll enjoy for years to come.