Take it Outside: Today’s Outdoor Living Trends
Year round indoor/outdoor living is one of the many benefits of the enviable California lifestyle. From the sparkling coast to forested mountaintops, San Diego’s natural beauty can be appreciated in every season. Maximizing your backyard or patio to fully embrace beautiful surroundings helps to make your whole home feel more modern, inviting, and spacious.
Planning a luxury San Diego backyard space starts with considering the existing design of your home and how to complement its design and architecture. Next, it’s important to create a layout outdoors that emphasizes the most compelling aspects of your surroundings, including everything from an existing pool or beautiful garden to views captured from your backyard’s perspective. Finally, before design begins, you’ll want to explore all the possibilities for how you plan to use your space – from simple relaxation to stylish entertaining. Think about the practicalities of how much sun and shade you want to capture and where, along with the smartest placement for an outdoor kitchen, seating areas, and fire and water elements.
When you’re considering a remodel of your outdoor space, here are some 2024 outdoor living trends to consider:
Smart Outdoor Technology
Much of the “smart home” technology we’ve become accustomed to over the past several years can also be brought into your outdoor space. If your outdoor living design includes a pergola, automated louvers, screens, and fans can easily adapt to changing weather. When you’re using your space for entertaining, a smart system that encompasses lighting and heating elements helps you change the atmosphere with the touch of a button. Integrating technology into your outdoor living space unifies it more closely with your interior, making it all feel part of a holistic living design.
Outdoor Fitness Areas and Meditation
Being able to comfortably practice self-care at home makes life simpler. For at-home workouts, dedicating part of your outdoor space to fitness gives you a healthy and private place to easily access equipment and save on trips to the gym. And, the outdoors is the ideal environment for quiet meditation, whether it’s a formal practice or simply relaxing in peace and solitude. When you’re imagining your San Diego outdoor living space, remember to create space for yourself along with areas for sharing and entertaining.
Creative Outdoor Entertainment
Parties under the sun or stars are one of the joys of living in San Diego. If you love to host outside, some of the elements that can make for memorable experiences include color changing lighting, water elements, fire pits and fireplaces, thoughtful seating arrangements, and of course, an outdoor kitchen. If you love the cinema, think about integrating a screen into your outdoor living space to watch the stars under the stars. For backyards that include a pool, the backyard design should be planned to include it as a centerpiece for pool parties and family days with kids.
Fire Pit Socializing
Gathering around the fire is one of the oldest ways we humans communicate! When entertaining, fire pits encourage intimate conversations and help guests stay comfortable longer when a chill sets in after sunset. Relaxing by yourself or in smaller groups of family and friends, watching a fire is proven to reduce stress and elicit a feeling of calm. Research shows that watching an open flame can actually lower your blood pressure! Fire pits can run on wood, gas, or electricity and come in many shapes and sizes for any style of home.
Outdoor Kitchen
If you love to host gatherings, or just enjoy delicious grilled dinners a few times a week, the ultimate addition to your outdoor living space is a full outdoor kitchen with all the accessories. From refrigeration to BBQs and pizza ovens, a fully outfitted kitchen in the backyard will inspire your enjoyment of your space and make it easy to entertain groups large and small.
Embracing outdoor living trends with a backyard oasis of your own dramatically increases your daily enjoyment of your home and inspires you to share your space with others. Our architects and designers have decades of experience in designing luxurious retreats with all of the elements that make San Diego outdoor living spaces memorable. To learn more, contact us.
