Tag Archives: ASLA

Landscape Architects Predict Outdoor Living Trends

This is the time of year when outdoor living trends will be all over the blogosphere. We know, because just last week we told you all about how outdoor kitchens are coming on strong in 2011.

Now the American Society of Landscape Architects (ASLA) has released their Residential Trends Survey. Included are some very promising finds. ASLA asked a group of professional landscape architects what trends and features they expect to see grow this year. Check out these highlights:

Most popular outdoor living features:

Exterior Lighting – 96.2%

Fire pits/fireplaces – 94.2%

Seating/dining areas – 94.1%

Grills – 93.8%

Installed seating like benches – 89.5

Most popular structures:

Fencing (includes gates) – 85.1%
Arbors – 83.8%
Pergolas – 82.6%
Steps – 79.3%
Ornamental water features such as fountains or splash pools – 77.5%
Decks – 74.4%
Porches – 72.3%

Outdoor Environments specializes in many of these popular outdoor living features including patios, decks, porches, fire pits and fireplaces, grill enclosures, pergolas and arbors. Call us at 913-897-2706 to find out more about how Outdoor Environments can bring life to your outdoor living space! You can also visit our Facebook fan page to see our impressive portfolio!

Outdoor living area shown is by Outdoor Environments

Outdoor Living Trends for 2010: Back to Basics

According to a recent survey by the American Society of Landscape Architects (ASLA), homeowners are still spending on outdoor living, but they are forgoing many of the bells and whistles (think sport courts, showers and outdoor TVs) in favor of focusing on the basics (dining and seating areas, grills, lighting, firepits and fireplaces).

Other outdoor living elements that ranked as popular for 2010, according to ASLA:

Installed seating such as benches, seatwalls, ledges, steps and boulders (90.6 percent)

Weatherized Outdoor Furniture (77 percent)

Counter Space (73.5 percent)

Decorative elements such as ornamental pools, waterfalls, grottos (86 percent)

All projects pictured are by Outdoor Environments. Let us know how we can help you get back to basics, just in time for Spring!