[monkeywrangler71]

I have a small house with a great view. Even though summers are short here, I really want to put a lot more emphasis on our outdoor living spaces. We are basically starting from scratch, planning to build a patio and deck, as well as a screen or sunroom (budget permitting, this might not all happen at once). We love the outdoors, but have never really used our previous yards because we were always too close to neighbours. I want outdoor spaces that we will use.

I actually posted about this a year ago – saying that I was going to put more effort into using the outdoor space at the next house. Well, here I am in the next house, trying to come up with a plan to create spaces that I will actually use .

If anyone has pictures of the outdoor spaces that they use and enjoy, I would love to see them (if you don’t know how to post photos just ask and I will walk you through it). There are plenty of pictures in magazines, but I want to see real spaces that real people use.

 

[stinkbug]

We have a large covered patio. We use it year round even though it isn't enclosed. We BBQ during all seasons, and keep our bird food containers out there.

 

[stinkbug]

This was taken last August from the patio

 

[craftypam]

We have stamped cement which I absolutely love. We have a gazebo; but the problem I'm having even though I love it; is that the weather rots the canvas way to quickly for the price. I have a table and 4 chairs, but I would like to get a set Sams has, but out of my price range right now. It's more like house furniture.

 

[pollypurebred39]

I was looking through these pictures for inspiration recently. There is 633 of them, maybe one of them will be to your liking.

Outdoor Living Spaces - Outdoor room pictures and design ideas for a beautiful landscape : HGTV

 

[low-1]

We are about 75-80% done our deck. Just have to do the rails and stairs, and screw down the decking. We have a screened-in gazebo as well, the "housing committee" (we live in corporate housing) determined that they were a necessity, not a luxury, due to the bugs up here. The gazebo is raised about 4 ft off the ground and is the same level as our dining room in the house, so we are taking out the dining room window and putting in french doors, and the deck joins the house and the gazebo (and covers a big portion of the yard as well). My wife and I put the decking on last night, set up a couple of lawn chairs and sat there for the evening, discussing why we didn't do it sooner.

Peaceful listening to the frogs and birds...