If your looking to create a beautiful outdoor space in which to relax and entertain, there are many design options to consider—both in terms of construction materials and layout and design features. A well designed patio needs to compliment the architectural style of your home, fit the land it sits on, satisfy your personal style preferences, and meet the demands of both your personal daily life and the special occasion party time.
What Materials Are Best for Your Patio and Landscape
Traditional clay brick, flagstone, bluestone, stamped concrete, and concrete pavers can all be used to create the “floor” for your new patio space. For Poughkeepsie, NY area homeowners, however, concrete pavers and natural stone are often the clear winners in terms of style, durability, and performance. Offering endless design options, pavers from manufacturers like Unilock—located here in the Hudson Valley—come in a large variety of colors, sizes, shapes, and patterns. Check out the Unilock catalog here for more inspiration or give the designers at Harmony Hill Landscaping a call to go over the options.
How Will You Use Your New Patio?
When embarking on the design process for a new patio space, determining the intended use of the outdoor living space is very important. If it is simply for your family’s use, you may desire an intimate space, partitioned from the rest of your property and closely located to the inside of the home. This can be accomplished with foliage or privacy walls or fences. Tall hedges or grasses can make beautiful natural privacy fences.
On the contrary, perhaps you’re more of an entertainer. With lots of family and friends to host often, an open design plan that optimizes space and movement is probably more preferable. This might take the appearance of one large space with walkways leading to other ‘outpost’ smaller patios. This style can be particularly striking when constructed using a commination of natural flagstone and concrete pavers. It creates a patio environment that blends seamlessly into the landscape.
Made in the Shade
Creating shade or filtered sunlight for main seating areas is important for comfort. Patios may be open to overhead sun or have an awning, hipped roof off of the house, umbrella tables, cloth gazebos, or a pergola to filter or eliminate the rays. Awnings can be fixed or retractable, but don’t have the elegant look that some other selections would. If the patio is a walkout extension from an internal living area, then a hipped roof connected to the main house can provide the look of a very large indoor/outdoor room. This allows for food preparation and presentation to remain in the main house, while still appearing as part of the overall space.
Pergolas can provide naturally beautiful, yet practically filtered sunlight for your patio. Trailing vines such as clematis wisteria, ivy, or others can engulf the rooftop framework of a pergola and provide a beautiful view, as well as reduce some direct sun.
Patio Features
Cooking
Since patios are a great place for summertime meals, including a built-in solution for outdoor food preparation is a wonderful option. Simple grill islands or elaborate “U” shaped outdoor kitchens, there’s just something special about cooking patio-side.
Fire
Including an outdoor fireplace or fire pit is perhaps one of the most popular trends in outdoor living design in the Poughkeepsie area. Doing wonders for creating an intimate outdoor space, fire features will help to extend the stay of your guests.
Lighting
There are incredible options for bringing light to your patio area. Lights can be embedded in risers on steps, the pavers on the edges of patios and walkways, the post of any railing or fencing; it’s truly limitless. A patio is a major investment that can really and truly extend the livable space of your home—including adequate light will help to make this happen successfully.
Making it Happen
Consulting with a trained landscaping company in the Poughkeepsie, NY are is the best place to begin your project. Be careful to select a contractor that is a great fit for your project as not all landscapers specialize in paver patios, landscape lighting, fire features, and outdoor kitchens. For a free consultation for your new outdoor living project, contact Harmony Hill Landscaping today—Certified, award-winning landscapers in the Poughkeepsie, NY area of Dutchess County, NY.
