Make no mistake about it: Outdoor living is trending and bigger than ever.

Outdoor living is huge. It’s like bringing the inside outside. It really seems like everybody wants to live outside now. Instead of taking a vacation, they want to go outside and have a staycation.

From functional outdoor kitchens to elaborate backyard living areas and everything in between, West Sport in Sudbury has the best ideas for your outdoor living space. Outdoor kitchens remain a popular feature.

We’re seeing a lot more outdoor kitchens with built-in gas grills, refrigerators, and bars. Outdoor kitchens can be as simple or as elaborate as the customer’s budget will allow.

You can have the basics — a refrigerator and grill. Or some people go all out, even installing lobster steamers.

Another idea is to buy a shed, deck it out inside, open up the doors, put a patio on the front of it and now you’ve got an outdoor entertainment area. Fire pits are another way to make the outdoors more cozy and appealing.

People are taking advantage of fire features. Now that everyone is migrating outside fire pits extend the season — you can be outside in the spring and the fall.

Whether outdoor living spaces include elegant or rustic elements, one feature home owners insist upon is low maintenance.

Everybody’s working so hard these days, you want to come home, have dinner, and not worry about messing up anything. You’ve got to clean the house and take care of the inside, so the outside should take care of itself.

For more information on outdoor kitchens and outdoor kitchen design elements, contact West Sport in Sudbury. Send in your contractor and get 25% off your entire project!

heraldbulletin.com

Over the years, outdoor landscaping has evolved from a plain concrete pad to more elaborate, multi-functional, multi-dimensional designs like outdoor kitchens and living rooms. These outdoor living spaces are accessible to people with a variety of budgets, and aren’t just limited to high-end homes.

People are increasingly considering the outdoor area to be an extension of their home, using it as an outdoor kitchen as well as an outdoor living area.

What is your priority: do you want to cook, or do you want to entertain? How do you want to use the space?

While things like a built-in gas grills or a smoker used to be reserved for luxury homes, those features are now readily available at different price points.

It used to be only the elite could have these outdoor kitchens, and now they’re accessible for everybody, and people really want to incorporate them into their design. People want to build outdoor spaces they can really use and savor during the months they can be outside.

Homeowners also want to incorporate items like outdoor TVs, seating spaces and a cast iron fire drum to host gatherings for friends.

Outdoor living spaces now have more of a flow, using different materials and creating distinct areas.

You might have an outdoor kitchen, an entertaining level, and then a separate area with a pergola and a swing. You can build in some functional furniture that doubles as benches and storage.

Even lighting for the outdoors has become more high-tech, as LED technology has introduced smaller lighting fixtures in a wide range of styles.

People are asking for maintenance-free lighting systems they can install and then forget about.

People are also making conscious choices about what plants they are incorporating into their landscaping. They are mixing herbs and vegetables into their overall plan and not having a designated vegetable garden. They are also choosing to incorporate plants that are friendly to butterflies and other wildlife.

There are really so many exciting things on the market now, and things that will be coming onto the market in the near future.

Homeowners also might create a large-scale plan for their outdoor space and then create it in phases. The key is for the designer and the homeowner to work on the project today.

If you build a house, you’re involved with the home builder from the very first step. It should be the same when you create your outdoor space. You should be involved and empowered to make a space look beautiful, but it has to be functional for you and your family and how you want to use it.

For more information on designing outdoor kitchens, contact West Sport in Sudbury.

nwitimes.com

The addition of outdoor living spaces and outdoor kitchens is a growing trend. Homeowners are increasingly moving their living areas beyond the four walls of the house and extending them to the outdoors.

People want to spend time at home now. Instead of traveling, they want to come home and relax.

As spring approaches, now is a good time to consider outdoor living projects which can include building an outdoor kitchen to add value to a home and increase your family’s enjoyment.

Professionally designed outdoor living spaces are growing in popularity, even though yards are shrinking in many neighborhoods. That may sound like a contradiction, but it isn’t. A well-designed outdoor space can help preserve privacy for you and your neighbors.

Some homeowners have larges spaces to work in, but others have big ideas to dress up a yard but have a smaller space to work in.

Included in new homes

Many homeowners add outdoor kitches after purchasing their homes, but many new homes come complete with areas for outdoor living.

It’s a second living area, but outside the home. Many are built to feature a deck, and many buyers add covered patios, built-in gas grills, and fire pits.

They weren’t popular in days gone by, but it is now. People are more outdoors oriented, more health conscious, more active.

One homeowner said, “I think of the value it brings my family, having that area for everyone to gather. It makes the backyard a focal point. It’s the kind of backyard people migrate to. It’s not unusual for us to light a fire and 10 people show up.”

For more information on planning and creating an outdoor kitchen, contact West Sport in Sudbury where we’ll give you 25% off your ENTIRE project.

The Tennessean