Americans
have traditionally enjoyed spending time outside—think backyard barbecues.
Today, outdoor living spaces are in high demand, and they’re getting more sophisticated than your typical patio/grill set up. According to the 2014 Residential Landscape Architecture Trends Survey
by the American Society of Landscape Architects, designed outdoor living
elements such as kitchens and entertainment areas, which include seating/dining
areas, fire pits, and lighting, are all growing in popularity.
“The
outdoor living trend has been talked about since the early 2000s,” recalls Steve
Van Kouteren of Principia Consulting. “As
the trend develops and more manufactures produce products, more options and
price points are available, so more consumers can take part. Synthetic decking
used to be one or two products and now there are all types of products. When
you add the new products and price points to a recovering economy, you get a
growth in a trend.”
Jim Ginocchi, president of Coyote Outdoor Living, believes that outdoor living is evolving beyond a trend to a priority in new-home construction. “It’s becoming almost a need in some households to extend living space,” he says.
REMODELING’s sister publication, BUILDER, recently reported on the inclusion of outdoor living space in floor plans. Hillary Gottemoeller, the content director for Hanley Wood’s house plan sales group, explains, “My general impression is that more new plans are incorporating outdoor living space than previously.” Before, she says, “designers may have left this more to the discretion of the buyer, but now in response to consumer demand (or really expectation), they are at the very least showing it on their floor plans and even incorporating it into the footprint/design.”
As the popularity of designed outdoor living spaces continues to grow, manufacturers respond by producing attractive and innovative products. If you’re creating an outdoor space for a client, scroll through the slideshow to see these nine new products.
