One of the best parts of a customized outdoor area is expanding your living space. When cold Michigan weather descends, it can be difficult to enjoy time outside, but upgrades to patio and surrounding space create an opportunity for all-season and all-weather enjoyment. You don’t have to make major changes to create a comfortable winter patio where you can daydream about what’s next for your yard and home come springtime.
Illuminate
Lights make a space warm, engaging, appealing, and attractive. Ambiance comes from strategically placed lighting. Permanent additions can be made by adding lights to stairs, patio edges, posts, or under seating. Complement these hardscaping ideas with twinkle lights strung from above or around trees for seasonal or year-round illumination.
Heat Things Up
Outdoor heating options can be temporary or permanent, but ask any homeowner who has invested in a fire pit or outdoor fireplace and they will tell you these additions have made their patio and backyard a truly cozy space during the coldest time of year.
Not only does a fire pit or fireplace deliver heat and light, they create rustic areas to cook and snuggle up during an often underappreciated season of the year.
Start Cooking
Outdoor kitchens allow homeowners to bring the indoors outside, and there’s no reason this activity can’t happen in winter. Make the most of that outdoor grill or oven or bar, so you can cook and entertain and keep everyone fed during the holidays or simply cook outside for a unique mid-week treat.
Add Seasonal Plants
Greenery and florals aren’t just for spring and summer. Winter foliage is plentiful and can add incredible ambiance. Seasonal plants include hardy perennials, evergreens, wintergreens, hellebore, and ornamental kale. There is something for every color scheme and your landscaper can help you find it.
Add a Partial Enclosure
A partial, temporary enclosure like a tent or roller shade can go a long way to blocking the wind and snow and keeping an area a little less chilled. Enjoy the hardscaping that abounds in the backyard while you’re in it but shielded just enough without looking out the window into the cold.
Get Cozy
Create a cozy seating area with weather-resistant cushion covers, plush throws, overstuffed pillows, and seasonal décor. The beauty and appeal of outdoor space doesn’t have to shut down just because December arrives. Take that cup of coffee outside and snuggle up with your sweetheart, kids, or for delicious alone-time.
Embrace the Season
It’s winter. It’s cold. It’s frosty. There will be snow and ice and low temps. Embrace it all and punctuate your outdoor space with the best of this season – build a snowman on the patio, bring out the fondue pot or pizza oven, hang colorful bird feeders, and, above all, dress for the weather.
Design a Winter Patio Space
Contact Visionary Landscaping in Shelby Township, MI, to schedule a consultation about the best ways to elevate hardscaping and landscaping for a successful winter season. While you’re at it, discuss what you envision for spring so you can look ahead to transforming your outdoor space once Mother Nature gets a little softer and brighter.
