An outdoor patio is more than just a place to eat and relax outside. It is an extension of your house or indoors. It should therefore add beauty to the outdoor space. The outdoor patio is a complement to your design along with the additional dining, seating areas and providing entertainment! They are the outdoor living spaces.
By creating a comfortable and beautiful patio design, you can make an outdoor living area for having fun with lasting ways to customize your home. Keeping few considerations in mind and following tips given below, planning a patio for your home will be an easy peasy task!
A patio extends your living space of a home into the outdoors. They are designed and oriented keeping the landscape in mind. Patio comes from the Spanish word ‘patio’, which means backyard or back garden. Traditionally, it is open inner courtyard of a Spanish house. Here are some tips you need to know before designing the outdoor patio for your homes. Plan your patio designs with good amenities following the tips as discussed below:
Outdoor Patio Design
01. Rules for the Permission of Patio Design at your Home
There are various rules and regulations, you need to know regarding adding or designing outdoor patio to your home.
There are various building codes, zoning laws and set backs that will come up in your way for patio designing. Different countries, different states, and different local authorities have their own rules.
- Visit the official website of your city for permits needed to build a patio in your property.
- If you belong to home owners’ association, you may also have to ask for permission to build a patio from the association.
- If you live in a rented home, you have to take permission from your landlord.
So always check with your local authorities before you start designing your patio.
02. Use of your Outdoor Patio
When it comes to designing an outdoor patio, there are tremendous patio ideas clicking your heads. By doing so, you will get an idea of designing that outdoor space. These outdoor patio ideas may be a space for parties, or you only want a private place to sit and observe nature or life. Most patio designs form a mix of personal and social uses, so you ought to design a versatile, creative and innovative patio.
03. Location for Patio
Choose the proper location for patio, which beautifully connects your indoor space with outdoors.
If you are planning to do any entertaining activity, it should be close to your kitchen. Patio close to your kitchen is advisable for easy access to the house for refreshment. If you are thinking your outdoor covered patio for lot of dining, quick kitchen access is always important to easily transfer the food and dishes to the outdoors. You can also create an outdoor kitchen in your patio setup for those summer barbeque.
- If you enjoy relaxing in the sun, your patio must be located accordingly where it has a southern or western sun, but do provide shade with the help of a canopy or pergola, especially in the scorching summers which can make it uncomfortable.
- For a cool and pleasant weather, locating a patio in north or east is best because these directions prevail shade throughout the day. Also, it gets the morning sun.
- If you have large shade trees at your place, you might keep a patio around those trees. You will get flecked sunlight. But do keep in mind to distance the patio from the roots. During the autumn season, there is a possibility of dead leaves falling on the ground. So, the cleaning issue might occur during this season.
04. Size for your Outdoor Patio
Measuring the space and size is the main thing to understand what you have and what you can do with that space. How many people it will accommodate is most important for patio designs. You can make a drawing with the dimensions of the space or simply mark the outline of the area with chalk. There are no set of rules for patio design. To design a space for outdoor fireplace, a fire pit surrounded by 4-5 chairs is a must. This gives a pleasant atmosphere in winters in a patio. A decent way to get a good view of the space is to place the patio furniture including chairs and table around the lawn where you want your patio to be located.
05. Material for Different Patio Designs
For constructing various floor patterns in patio designs, you can use wood, concrete, tiles, bricks, flagstones, stones, stamped concrete or pavers. Stamped concrete is that patterned or textured concrete which resembles brick, slate, flagstone, tile, wood, and other various patterns and textures. It is commonly used for patios, sidewalks, driveways, pool decks, and interior flooring. These materials come in many colors, and you can customize them to fit into your needs. Visit your local stores for collecting information regarding different styles and of course price.
06. How Much do you Want to Spend?
Beware of your budget. Some materials cost more than others, while some are cheaper but take more time to install. For example, concrete is a least expensive option but can be very labor intensive. When you compare concrete with wood or stone, it would probably be the most expensive option especially, when you choose natural stone & wood!
07. Plants & Landscaping
By adding greenery to your outdoor patio, you can make space aesthetically pleasing, and it will also offer shade and privacy. Think what you want, a plant that needs much care or prefer those which needs no care. Be honest about your ability to manage plants, and then decide which plants and how many plants you should buy and plant! If maintaining plants is your cup of tea, you should opt for a creative planting adding a wow factor. Vertical planting is a great way to inject natural beauty in small patio design ideas. Do opt for low maintenance plants and those which consumes less water.
08. Waterproofing the Outdoor Patio
There are several products available in the market specifically made for waterproofing your space. So waterproof your outdoor patio. The products you use will totally depend on the material you use. For e.g. A concrete patio is easy to waterproof but a stone patio may need to be sealed and then waterproofed. It may also require more time, efforts and experience.
09. Your Patio will be Shady or Sunny One
Pay attention to whether you want a sunny outdoor patio or a shady one, which will be a part of your yard. How the sun hits your space will decide whether you may want an umbrella, a gazebo or an awning. Plants & trees also can be an excellent source of shade. You can do more plantation to block the sun as well as to add landscape aesthetic beauty to that space.
10. Think About the Patio Furniture with Respect to Usage
If you are thinking your patio designs for lavish garden parties and elegant patio affairs, you will need spacious seating, as well as a table surface. And if you visualize your patio as a private outdoor area for you and your family, then your patio furniture should include few chairs, ottomans and side table, that would be good enough!
To sum up, patio can either be attached or detached to the house. They are designed keeping landscape in mind. There are various products available to design a patio including the ones for flooring, pergola, furniture, patio covers, and so on. A patio gives you a clean and sturdy surface to entertain family and friends as well as for relaxing outdoors.