Category Archives: Outdoor Design Ideas

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More people are redesigning their patios to take advantage of the extended living space. A well-designed patio is the perfect place for hosting outdoor parties whenever weather permits. Here are a few exterior remodeling ideas to help you get started.

Update Your Furniture

Your outdoor furniture choices make a big difference in the comfort of your family and guests. Set flimsy plastic lawn furniture aside, and replace it with furniture that is more comfortable. Wicker chairs and sofas with cushions are a good choice. Create a sitting area with these options and complete it with a weather-resistant coffee table. Think in terms of bringing indoor comfort to your patio.

Enhance Your Outdoor Cooking Area

Enhance your grill or outdoor fire pit by adding a prep table nearby. This saves trips back and forth to the kitchen. You might also consider following the outdoor kitchen trend by adding a mini refrigerator and weatherproof cabinetry to hold cooking utensils and other items.

Improve Outdoor Lighting

When the sun sets in the Kansas City sky, the party is just getting started. Keep guests safe by adding lighting to outdoor pathways and stairs. Add a few ultra-modern colored LED lights for a chic effect.

Outdoor Environments can help turnover your patio into the perfect place for entertaining this summer.

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Creative outdoor lighting is one of the leading outdoor remodeling trends.  Universal design in lighting leads the way to your front door safely and makes your patio and outdoor eating area more pleasant at night.

Universal design refers to safe and easy accessibility to residential and commercial buildings for people of all physical abilities, including those with disabilities, children, and seniors. Good outdoor lighting helps people of all ages and abilities see clearly where they are walking and stay safe on a path at night.

Well designed outdoor lighting creates zones to help people determine borders at the edge of paths and stairs.  Swimming pools and other landscaped water elements should also be illuminated at night for safety.

Various styles of outdoor lighting can illuminate pathways, entries and parking areas while adding elegance to your home. A pathway lined with ground-level LED lights can show the way to your front entry, backyard deck or  your garden. Illuminate your raised deck area with colorful lights under the railing.

Lights mounted next to or under steps will make them easier to ascend and descend at night. Lights can also be added to the stairway bannister by your front or back door.

Outdoor Environments will work with you to create safe and elegant lighting for the exterior of your Kansas City home.

Outdoor living rooms and kitchens are becoming increasingly more popular among homeowners. If you decide that you want to build an outdoor kitchen to complement your outdoor living area, then be sure to plan it out first.

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There are a few things that you should consider during the planning stages of your outdoor kitchen. First of all, ask yourself what kind of food you will be preparing. Will you be cooking full meals for large parties? Or will it be simply to whip up small snacks or lunches for intimate social gatherings? The amount of people you plan to entertain is a factor as well.  If you like to throw large parties, you will need the kitchen space to match.  If you prefer inviting a few friends over for a quiet evening, a smaller kitchen can suffice.

You’ll also have to figure out where you’ll want to build your outdoor kitchen. A place that provides shade from the sun is a must, and a nice view is a welcome feature as well. Make sure the layout makes sense as well; you don’t want it to get in the way of foot traffic in your yard. You’ll want to plan on using materials that are not only aesthetically attractive, but that can withstand the outdoor elements and are also easy to maintain.

Begin planning an outdoor kitchen for your home by contacting us online at Outdoor Environments.  We would be happy to help you design your dream kitchen!

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“Summertime… and the living is easy,” or so the song so aptly goes. The summer is indeed, a great time to get outside and enjoy the wonderful weather especially if you can bring all the comforts of inside with you. Here are a few suggestions for creating an outside room that has all the comforts of home and making this transition possible: 

• Use Comfortable Furniture – Face it. Most outdoor furniture is uncomfortable. Break the mold and find some that keeps your backside at ease.
• Add Colorful Rugs – Richly colored rugs create conversational spaces and add a splash of excitement.
• Decorate with Aplomb – Anything goes; art, potted plants, lanterns and even gold fish ponds. Treat this outdoor space like a room and decorate it.
• Create a Focal Point – Build the space around one singular item like a fire pit or objets d’art and you will naturally generate a meeting for family and guests.

If you need more information on outdoor living rooms and kitchens, contact the professionals at Outdoor Environments, Inc. Our designers and staff are experts at expanding the interior comforts of your home into your outdoor spaces.

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On the list of most wanted exterior remodeling ideas is what to do with that unused corner of the backyard. While many people will just throw up a storage shed and plant some bushes around it, a little creativity can turn that corner into a little slice of heaven for you, your family and your guests. Here are just three suggestions:

• An Outdoor Fireplace – On cool autumn evenings, a fireplace is just the thing to keep the party going. You can even keep the kids occupied with toasted marshmallows and s’mores. 
• An Intimate Seating Area – Center it on a vintage table, a water feature or an outdoor sculpture. In any event, you will have a conversation starter and great place for your friends to congregate on a warm summer evening, 
• A Trellis and Garden – Plant lovers never seem to have enough garden space. A trellis solves this problem in three dimensions. Plus, there are a amazing variety of colorful, low maintenance plants that love to climb. 

Whether you choose one of these exterior remodeling ideas or one of your own, don’t let that backyard corner go to waste. For more information, contact the pros at Outdoor Environments.

The days are getting longer and it is time to consider exterior remodeling ideas to increase the value of your Kansas City area home.

This may be the year to create a sun room on your front porch or deck. Add screening or windows to allow fresh air and sunlight to enter while keeping out pesky bugs. This gives your house friendly curb appeal.

You can still enjoy your garden while you modernize your yard. A rebuilt and extended back patio or wood deck can offer additional room for plants, hanging pots and bird feeders.

A built-in brick or stone barbecue with a food preparation area or a copper cooking pit can add a new dimension to your patio by turning it into an outdoor kitchen.  This can be a natural extension of your dinning room or family room with the addition of a pass-through window or sliding door.

Think about adding an attractive, garden tool shed to your backyard or side yard. You may even have room for a romantic gazebo or a hot tub enclosure suitable for use all year.

No matter what plans you have for styling and designing your home’s back yard, Outdoor Environments are the experts in the Kansas City area, so contact us today if you want a perfectly-designed backyard experience

Image via Houzz

The days are getting longer and it is time to consider exterior remodeling ideas to increase the value of your Kansas City area home.

This may be the year to create a sun room on your front porch or deck. Add screening or windows to allow fresh air and sunlight to enter while keeping out pesky bugs. This gives your house friendly curb appeal.

You can still enjoy your garden while you modernize your yard. A rebuilt and extended back patio or wood deck can offer additional room for plants, hanging pots and bird feeders.

A built-in brick or stone barbecue with a food preparation area or a copper cooking pit can add a new dimension to your patio by turning it into an outdoor kitchen.  This can be a natural extension of your dinning room or family room with the addition of a pass-through window or sliding door.

Think about adding an attractive, garden tool shed to your backyard or side yard. You may even have room for a romantic gazebo or a hot tub enclosure suitable for use all year.

No matter what plans you have for styling and designing your home’s back yard, Outdoor Environments are the experts in the Kansas City area, so contact us today if you want a perfectly-designed backyard experience

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To make your deck among the most beautiful decks in Kansas City you will want to make sure that you take advantage of great lighting. You will find that there is a large variety of deck lighting from which you can choose to make your deck not only look great but to also be much safer for your family as well as for visitors.

All decks in Kansas City should offer the benefits of being able to be useful after the sun goes down and with smart lighting  you can almost use your deck as if it were another room added to your home. You can enjoy eating dinner on your deck or entertaining friends and family at get togethers during the evening hours or the late night hours if your choose.

Selecting from the vast choices of deck lighting will help light up the steps to your deck so that the deck is easily and safely accessed. Lighting can also be placed along your handrails to outline your deck. You may also choose to place your deck lights in areas that you want to be focal points.

For the best in outdoor deck construction and design, be sure you talk with the experts at Outdoor Environments if you have a home in the Kansas City area.

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Are you looking to add some color to your backyard? Some exterior remodeling ideas for your yard include planting a garden that surrounds your deck. This is a good choice if you have a small backyard, since it only takes a few easy steps to have a beautiful garden wrapped around your deck.

The first step is to take a hose and lay it around beds  you have set up for your garden. This well help your garden to curve smoothly. The next step is to put some potted plants on the beds and determine where you want each plant to go. When you have made that decision you need to take the sod out of the beds and put organic matter in the soil.

After the soil is in place and the plants are firmly in the ground, you  need to install the brick edging and lay down the cedar mulch. Some people even add limestone pavers at the bottom of the stairs to their deck.

Contact Outdoor Environments today if you want to add more color to your backyard and give it a new look that will last for ages.

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When you are searching for exterior remodeling ideas, peace can be attained with water features added to your landscape. Water ideas are abundant, and these ideas can depend on both the size and shape of your landscape area. You may consider a small pond with turtles, frogs and fish. Plants lining your new pond will give you the sense of being in the middle of a nature reserve, even if you reside in a major city.

Some other great ideas are waterfalls of many types, using rocks or glass as a backdrop. You may want to have a beautiful fountain in your landscape. We have even dug and formed amazing creek beds running down the midst of your yard and falling into a small pond.

Whatever water feature that you may desire for your landscape, here at Outdoor Environments we can assist you in getting that peaceful landscape. Give us a call at 913-897-2706. We do landscapes that will make the neighbors jealous.