It's never to late to add style to your Dutchess County landscaping

With all the buzz surrounding outdoor living spaces here in the Hudson Valley region, chances are pretty good that you've been thinking of ways to bring some style to yours. Whether you're looking to add a little life to your paver patio, pool deck, front porch, or back deck, here's 3 simple tricks to get you headed in the right direction.  Related: 10 Tips for a Beautiful & Functional Landscape Design in Dutchess County, NY.

1. COLOR >> Just like the interior spaces of your Hudson Valley home, the outdoor living and landscape spaces need a color scheme. Let's take your new patio for instance. While considering the colors of your natural stone or concrete pavers, add one bold accent color to the soft, muted colors of nature. Introduce this color through outdoor pillows, couch cushions, planters, and even outdoor rugs. Remember, a little goes a long way here!

2. TEXTURE >> One of the best ways to add warmth and class to an outdoor living space is through the careful use of contrasting textures. There are a ton of options in the outdoor fabrics world today for pillows, throws, outdoor curtains, and outdoor rugs. Combine these durable fabrics with woven wicker or wrought iron outdoor furniture and throw in some rough concrete and stone. Top it off with lush plantings and you've got yourself a truly special outdoor space.

3. LIGHT >> Outdoor lanterns are so popular for a good reason—they bring function and style together in a traditionally interior design element. Restoration Hardware and Pottery Barn offer some awesome options in a variety of shapes and sizes. Adding a fire pit or fire bowl can add both warmth and light, not to mention  a reason to gather the family up for a cozy chat session! Landscape lighting, string lighting, and even candles are all great additions to your Dutchess and Orange County landscaping as well. 

Enjoy the outdoor living season!

Integrated in-ground hot tubs and spas

Most times here in the Hudson Valley region, spas and hot tubs are installed above ground on a concrete slab. While this is a system that certainly works well, what if your spa could be better integrated into the overall landscape design? 

Enter H2Zen Spas. Essentially and in-ground spa, the Canadian manufacturer offers multiple shapes and sizes available to fit any landscape design style from country to modern. Exciting stuff!

Imagine one of these H2Zen spas sitting level with your back paver or natural stone patio, blending in perfectly with the rest of the outdoor living space. 

Pool Renovation in Hawthorne, NY Complete!

Nothing injects new life into an old pool than a beautiful new paver patio. This Westchester, NY poolscape is a far cry from what it was a few weeks ago—the before picture shows the amazing transformation. 

Major home investments such as in-ground pools need a little love every so often. Often times, it's not always the only option to rip out the existing structure and begin anew. This beautiful Hudson Valley pool patio/outdoor living space is a perfect example. 

Enjoy!

String Lights: Bring that small cafe vibe to your own Dutchess County patio

Landscape lighting is a very popular way to add safety, security, and beauty to your Hudson Valley landscaping. In fact, the folks at Harmony Hill Landscaping in Fishkill, NY have been designing and installing landscape lighting systems for over 10 years. But relatively new to the scene is the trend of using cafe-style string lighting to add an extra punch of ambience that's hard to match with anything else. 

Picture your outdoor living space—maybe poolside or on the back patio—on a summer evening here in the HV. You have some close friends over for some grilled food and a nice glass of wine and lingering overhead are some of these elegant lights making your backyard feel somehow like a French cafe. Truly magical. 

Here's a few of our favorites to consider when looking for that extra special touch for your next gathering. Hudson Valley style, of course! 

 White Festoon Lights

Ikea

Is the Exploding 'Garden to Table' Trend Coming to the Hudson Valley?

One of the hottest trends in landscaping and outdoor living has found edibles—that is garden plants such as vegetables and herbs—making their way into traditionally ornamental-only landscape planting beds. While we have certainly watched this trend enter the Hudson Valley in Dutchess and Orange counties, nowhere have we seen it better represented than at the Edible Garden and Outdoor Kitchen at the Atlanta Botanical Garden. 

The showcase features a stunning vertical garden wall that is home to a variety of herbs and other vegetables. Not only incredible to look at, the garden produces food 365 days a year and encourages the folks of Atlanta to grow their own food right at home.

It gets even better, though. The Botanical Garden also incorporated a fully functional outdoor kitchen adjacent to the growing produce, which they use to hold cooking demonstrations from May to October each year. They invite local chefs from the area to come in and share their knowledge with visitors. Any food that is not used in these demonstrations gets donated to regional charities. Talk about the landscape profession stepping up for the community?!?

While there may not be anything this elaborate here in the Hudson Valley and Westchester area of NY, there is certainly a movement to add some yummy edibles to the planting beds alongside your pool deck or patio. The team at Harmony Hill Landscaping is no stranger to designing and building custom outdoor kitchens. Who knows, very soon they may be adding some freshly growing herbs  in the ground or on a wall, right by the grill. Sounds quite perfect to us!

Via Garden Design and Access Atlanta and Inhabitant.  Images © Erica George Dines and Atlanta Botanical Garden