Outdoor Living Trends – 7 That Are Huge in 2021
Whether you’re cooking, exercising, or just hanging out, plan to spend more time outside this year as backyards, decks, and patios evolve into comfortable, well-equipped extensions of the home for the family and friends.
This year outdoor living trends are all about making your backyard, porch, pergola or even small balcony a regular part of your everyday life. Landscape Pros in Manassas, VA say that homeowners today are bringing their indoor conveniences outdoors with smart technology, multipurpose comfortable add-ons, and other structures that allow us to be outside longer and more often longer throughout the year. More and more, whether it’s a small spot to grow or own herb for homemade meals, a private patio with plenty of shade, or a outdoor kitchen space to do the cooking, outdoor living in 2021 is becoming synonymous with time spent at home.
1. Outdoor Kitchens
Outdoor cooking has become an increasingly popular outdoor activity for all homeowners, family and friends. In fact, a 2021 design trends report by the National Kitchen and Bath Association (NKBA) found recently that 60% of homeowners are looking to add outdoor kitchens at home. The hard decision is what type of outdoor kitchen do you want or need? Satellite kitchens can provide additional cooking elements, like grills, cooktops, and pizza ovens, to supplement the home’s main interior kitchen and are often situated just outside the door of an indoor kitchen for easy convenience. Another option, for outdoor living spaces are independent kitchens that include food prep space, an outdoor sink, storage areas, and refrigeration, along with other cooking elements, so that most if not all your cooking needs can be accomplished outdoors. The experts at Landscape Pros say Space, renovation budgets, and climate will influence the design of an outdoor kitchen. In addition, regardless of the outdoor kitchen type you want, it’s important to provide additional outdoor seating for comfort and is necessary to complete all your al fresco outdoor meals. Give them a call at 571.535.8622 for more details on building your new outdoor space.
2. Edible Gardens
Recent events have made millions of people to begin building gardening areas during the COVID pandemic. Being forced to stay home homeowners have taken measures into their own hands with the desire to be outdoors to grow their own food and wanting a new hobby to fill the time while at home. However, one of the biggest reasons for an uptick in edible gardening spaces was to supplement home pantries with homegrown fruits, vegetables, and herbs when grocery stores became bare during the pandemic. “People are hungry for new ways to add flavor, color, and nutrition to the plate,” says Marisa Moore, RDN, who partnered with Burpee to identify ways the edible garden trend will continue in 2021.
Immunity gardens are becoming more available around the home to grow and provide foods that boost our overall health. Planting tomatoes are a great example; they are rich in vitamin C and play a vital role in a healthy immune system. Other edible gardening trends feature growing hearty vegetables for plant-based homemade dishes and are partially being fueled by rising concerns regarding climate change and animal welfares.
3. Outdoor Furniture
Entertaining outdoors and having outdoor furniture to accommodate both everyday living and anticipated home social gatherings is becoming extremely popular. Designing furniture is not just about style—it is about how you live says Sandra Smith-Fitzgerald, senior vice president of merchandising for the Frontgate company. They have created new outdoor pieces designed to perform multiple functions, often with hidden features, and have made them versatile enough to use in nearly any space you choose. Examples of furniture items below can be convertible, modular that can be pulled apart to accommodate seating and social distancing, and having tables with hidden beverage compartments.
Buy It: Pasadena Teak Coffee Table ($1,600, Frontgate)
4. Privacy and Protection Structures
As outdoor activity increases so does the need for privacy, shade, and shelter from the outdoor elements. Whether it’s a secluded space to practice your yoga without distraction or a new place to use your laptop without harsh glare, homeowners are designing outdoor spaces with a mix of landscaping, hardscaping, and purchasing outdoor furniture, that can provide outdoor protection. There are abundant ways to add privacy to outdoor spaces. If you have an overhead structure, you can hang outdoor drapery panels or use an outdoor screen for privacy. If your space has border area that lends itself to planting, you can create a plant wall or utilize an umbrella that tilts to give you some privacy, says Jamie Gold, a wellness design consultant.
Your Outdoor Living Trends options are endless when being creative in designing and building outdoor and interior designs.
5. Social Front Yards
Front yards are becoming the newest home addition. Previously, front yards were often just curb appeal necessities, but now homeowners are utilizing this space to get more out of the home with a new front yard social room to enjoy.
Landscape Pros in Manassas, VA say “creating an outdoor living space at the front of the home is not only about maximizing available space for daily living—but are for welcoming our communities, too”. Designing a social front yard is less formal than a backyard design, and its simplicity is part of its appeal. Example simply adding a bistro table and chairs, a tree swing, or a comfortable porch bench seat can bring new life into an area that was previously only viewed from afar or passed through.
6. Outdoor Technology
As more and more people integrate the outdoors into everyday living, they’re also looking to incorporate all the new technology they use on the interior, for their exterior outdoor spaces. Backyard outdoor activities like streaming movies and working from home have many people adding boosters to amplify their home Wi-Fi signal outdoors. Since technology today can be seamlessly integrated into outdoor living spaces, homeowners are creating entirely new spaces, like outdoor theaters and outdoor home offices. The recent pandemic really has driven great interest for many into creating new outdoor office spaces.
Today, outdoor work surfaces are on the rise with technology that incorporates music, televisions, and other aesthetic updates like LED color-changing technology that is fun and allows to change the mood of the outdoor space with a click of a button or an app on the smartphone to control lights and change lighting to just about any color: green and red for Christmas, orange for Halloween, etc.
7. Extend the Outdoor Living Season
Furniture, accessories, and add-ons that help you stay outside longer are an especially popular upgrade today. Most people love the idea on how to extend the days and hours they can enjoy being outside. Amenities like fire pits, heating lamps, cool misting systems, and fans are becoming key products for extending the outdoor living season around the home. Additionally, things like outdoor rugs on the patio, warm throw blankets, and lighting provide added comfort into the night or in cooler temperatures in our outdoor living spaces. Although these products and ideas are not new, their usefulness today are turning occasionally-used outdoor spaces into everyday living areas and are becoming especially popular in 2021. For more ideas on outdoor living trends to extend your outdoor living spaces, contact the “PROS” at Landscape Pros in Manassas, VA today at 571.535.8622.
