Greater Prescott is one of the top locations anywhere for outdoor living with its mild four-season climate, but summer is the time when residents and visitors alike are drawn to open-air experiences like a magnet.
2020 was a huge year for home improvement and expanding the footprint of your workspace into your yard, and it’s just as strong this year as homeowners get a better idea of what they want and how they can accomplish it.
Maybe your experiences eating and entertaining outside last year brought what your yard is missing into sharp relief, or perhaps you’re inspired by what you’ve seen on friends’ and neighbors’ property. Whatever your reason, take a look at the trends taking hold this year.
Durable furniture
Quite a few people are discovering that between the weather and more frequent use, their plastic and wicker patio furniture doesn’t hold up as well as they’d expected. This brings them to consider wood and upholstered furniture once deemed to be unsuitable for outdoor use, as well as heavier-duty materials like aluminum, metal and concrete. For moderate climates such as Prescott’s, better choices include aluminum, stainless steel, synthetic resin and wrought iron.
Taking it out front
Many of us have created a whole new world in our backyard, but there’s still something missing. If you have a porch or front yard large enough to accommodate it, try parking some of your outdoor furniture there to create an even-more-casual entertaining space, one that could become the social hub for your whole block.
Garden, garden, garden!
Consider just how much you can plant in your yard and what it can do for you, your family and your environment. You can create a native garden devoted to plants native to your area and appropriate to your climate and wildlife such as a pollinator garden. Edible gardens produce fresh, nutritious vegetables for your family (and sometimes the wildlife, too), and cutting gardens stocked with perennial blooms and bulbs for the table are also back in vogue.
Add more plants
If your outdoor seating area isn’t next to your garden you can simply use some planters to bring some flowers, herbs or small cacti and succulents into the conversation, either next to or behind the seats to bring some greenery and fresher air to a patio, deck or balcony.
Get cooking
Outdoor kitchens take longer to install than a couple of patio chairs or potted plants, but building just what you need can shorten the process and can still be a worthwhile investment as experts project an up to 200% return on investment on the home’s value. A simple barbecue island can be completed in a couple of weeks while a full-scale kitchen can take three or more months. But anyone who foresees a lot of parties and culinary activity in their yard should consider getting the works!
