Sunday, February 27, 2011

Designing a Patio for Dining

A patio is a space outside our house that we can use if we want the fresh air of outdoor environment. We make it a safe haven for relaxation after a tiresome day. And there are times we want to take the dining into an outdoor setting where the ambiance is great. Here are a some simple suggestions to create a dining place with an appetite in your patio.

Add the Right Furniture
Usually, patio furniture added to the patio are not meant for dining. Though they can be used for dining, these does not help to have a satisfactory meal. For table and chairs, make it sure that you can sit right to eat well. You may add a larger table but be sure you have enough space to move around. There is a table that can be adjusted anytime, helpful to make your patio spacious after the meal. If you need a shade, you can use a patio umbrella so you can enjoy the lovely outdoors rain or shine. Offset patio umbrellas are the popular choice for outdoor dining as they are convenient and stylish.

Add Warmth
The place for dining should be warm or cozy. Just add a patio heater or a portable electric fireplace and it will be fine. You can opt to use a gas or gel fuelled heater as they may add essence to the air. Adding a patio heater is a must especially for cold days.

Add The Right Color
Different colors and color combinations can create different feelings. The choice of colors for the setup is much like in a dining room, it must be warm and exciting. These colors include red and shades of darker red, yellow-orange, gold, and shades of brown. This year, one of the color trend is vintage wine, this color and derivatives of it makes a romantic setup that can also be used for a dining setup.

Sunday, February 20, 2011

How Do You Design Your Patio - The Flooring

A patio is usually built for several purposes such as personal relaxation, a cozy outdoor place to receive guests, and as a cool venue for a celebration and get-together. There are lots of design ideas that can fulfill different needs. Here are some patio floor design ideas to help make your patio worthy for your purpose.

Generally a patio is paved which extends from your house doorstep to the outer part. The pavement plays a greater role in designing the patio for a specific theme. And there are many types of patio flooring to choose from and each one creates different effects to the design. Building the floor is a lot of fun too, you can show your artistic talent in building a unique patio floor.

Stone, this flooring style is nice when creating natural scenery or garden. Imagine yourself relaxing under a patio umbrella in a tropical scene but just right in your patio. Building is easy, you can just lay the stone on the ground and design it freely. Stone types can be soap stone, granite, limestone, and many other faux stones.

Bricks, this helps you design the flooring freely as bricks can be arranged in any way because they are small. It allows a designer to create different shapes of flooring and combination of colors.

Tile, this allows the creation of smooth and clean flooring. This type is durable as it is fixed on the floor.

These fragmented materials which includes stones, bricks, and tiles can create a unique flooring. With these the design possibilities are numerous, you can mimic the natural scenery or large mosaic in your patio floor.

Concrete can make a bigger plain patio floor for your patio furniture, a clean and sleek flooring, great for modern designing. You may also put stamps to it to create unique floor effects.

Woods, this flooring is usually made for decks. But is also possible to build a patio with wood, just build it like we did on decks but lower it to the ground to create the patio design. Wood patio is also nice when creating a romantic and classic setup. Wooden patio furniture are a great complement to this setup. This flooring usually needs roof but you may also choose not to use. Just make sure that the wood floor is properly sealed against outdoor elements. You may use a temporary shade if needed such as sun shade sails or large patio umbrellas.

Sunday, February 13, 2011

Things to Consider in Building a Patio

Often we build a patio for an extra space outside the house. We use that area in many ways, for personal leisure and for a place to welcome our visitors and guests. A patio can be designed to many themes and styles. One may design it for a relaxation, for a party, a get-together, a place for hobby, and for special occasions.

In building the patio, you can choose a single or a combination of several patio flooring types. The patio pavers may have distinctive effects in your desired patio theme so choose the best match. Famous flooring types include stone, brick, tile, and whole concrete. Some may also choose to build wooden patio which is economical, it just need to be a bit elevated.

The size of the patio will depend on how you use it and how many people you want it to accommodate. Consider also the space required by the additions needed of a specific patio theme. A patio setup can include patio furniture, typically a table and chairs. You may also want to add a sofa set with outdoor cushion, this will take a larger space. Other additions will not take much space but try to figure out how you may want to place them. Just like an outdoor fire pit or fire bowl which is not recommended to place in a narrow space.

For patio roofing, you may choose to build a permanent or just get a temporary type. Permanent roofing is good if you want to have a solid and fixed shade. This is also the choice for places that experienced heavy rains frequently. Permanent roofing includes fixed canopies or gazebos, metal roof including aluminum, and tinted or clear glass which is classy. Temporary roofing is the popular choice today because they are inexpensive and trendy. They provide a cool shade with style, perfect for an outdoor themed patio design. This type comes in many forms and stylish designs which includes offset patio umbrella, wall-mount umbrella, and shade sails.

To make your patio last longer, it is important to take careful steps while building it. It will not only make the patio durable but also safe for people. A poorly built patio can be risky, we should build it on solid foundation.

Sunday, February 6, 2011

Creating a Tropical Patio

Endless tropical leisure can be enjoyed at home. This can be possible by transforming a patio into a tropical paradise. Imagine now enjoying the breeze and that smooth ambiance of tropics without travelling. You'll always love to come home for a relaxation after a tiring day. This simple patio setup literally brings the look and feel to the area. It will be easy to clear the area first before designing for you to think clearly how will the finished setup looks. The design will be determined on how you want to enjoy the area. Though there are recommended settings but enjoyment is about personal preference, make it yours.

Plants
First thing in mind when thinking of tropical plants are the palms, bamboos, and vines. You have two options when adding plants to a patio, either plant them directly to the ground or to a pot. I recommend potted plants to make it easy to move and transfer them whenever you need to change or rearrange the setup. Other plants that can be added are the ornamental banana's and flowers. The plants are beneficial, they add freshness and tropical fragrance to the patio.

Feature
The other thing in common of tropical environment is the availability water. It comes in a variety of forms such as a lake, a river or waterfalls, a pond, and a beach. Of course, we cannot add the original forms. But we can easily create or buy a miniature form of these water feature to the patio.

Furniture
Any patio furniture will do but it will be nice if you add some kind with a touch of tropical design. A wood or wicker patio furniture will give a natural look. In case you already have a patio furniture and you want it to have a tropical look, you may add a cushion or change the covers that goes with the style. Adding an outdoor umbrella is also nice for the setup. Look for neutral colored umbrella that goes with the green color of tropics such as whites, yellows, and shades of pink and red. Another umbrella type that's relevant to the theme is a tiki or a thatch umbrella.

Temperature
Having a tropical setup is not limited to the outlook only but also to the ambiance. Tropical is always moderate in temperature. To complete the setup, we need to control the temperature especially in the cold areas. A modern outdoor heater in which you can adjust the output can do the tricks. An outdoor fire pit or fire bowl is a nice one for a night in the patio.