How would you like to sit outdoors in your custom made arbor or pergola this summer? Outdoor living structures are the perfect place to relax either by the pool or dining al fresco. We love creating an outdoor living space that suits your everyday life.
Click here to visit our website to see more of our work.
Technology is constantly changing and the researchers at the University of California, San Diego are trying to come up with a way to embed tiny sensors in your cell phone that can detect toxic chemicals in the air. These silicon chips will be able to map the locations of these chemicals and alert emergency responders as well as you. How’s that for an iPhone app?
According to Inhabitat.com, “Michael Sailor and his team at UC San Diego along with startup company Rhevision Technology, Inc. recently completed the tech’s first phase of development. Now, they’re working on a prototype that can work with a cell phone.”
How it works: A tiny, silicon chip is embedded into your cell phone. The device will change color when it detects harmful chemicals, alerting you and emergency responders.
Currently the chip can only identify a handful of chemicals, but researchers are optimistic about its future.
Outdoor lighting can turn your backyard into a beautiful moon lit night every night. Below are some useful tips from Ligthing.com to help you recreate the romantic glow of a perfect evening.
Down Lighting: Place spotlights high up in trees, positioned out of sight. These fixtures shine down to illuminate interesting tree details while lighting the area closely surrounding the tree.
Shadow Lighting: Lights are placed to cast shadows produced from trees, sculpture or other landscape details. These shadows are reminiscent of the contrasting light play the full moon creates.
Up Lighting: Placing lights at the base of structures or trees provides dramatic illumination that captures attention.
Mood Lighting: Working with a mix of lighting intensities, you can set the mood and sculpt your surroundings with light. Layers of soft-washed light, blended with stark shadows and bright spots, captivate the eye.
Moon Lighting: Hide flood lights high up in trees to wash larger areas with light, replicating the shine of the full moon. Angle lights from a series of locations to achieve the best effect.
We are looking forward to Paula S. Wallace, president and co-founder of SCAD, latest book- Perfect Porches: Designing Welcoming Spaces for Outdoor Living (Random House). According to Wallace, “a well-designed porch is like a welcoming committee that invites friends and family to share stories, catch up on neighborhood news or quietly enjoy the breezes of a sultry summer evening. Porches bridge our public and private worlds, conveying the essence of one’s home.” Perfect Porches perfectly illustrates the variations of porches throughout our country with more than 250 stunning photographs. Random House writes, “Whether you seek to reawaken a cherished memory of a childhood porch, create an adorned haven of your own, or take an enlightening journey across the nation, this volume is certain to become a treasured companion as well as a source of fresh inspiration.”
Here at Outdoor Environments we love awakening a love of outdoor living in our clients. Our passion for building and design are rooted in helping you unleash the beauty of your natural surroundings. Below are some porches that we designed and built for our clients to help them create their own welcoming outdoor space.
What is your favorite memory of a cherished childhood porch? Mine is of my grandmother rocking me to sleep on her porch that overlooked the Blue Ridge Mountains.
Hopefully by now you have taken advantage of the nice weather and started using your grill more this season. Keeping your grill clean is one of the secrets of great grilling, that and Dad’s secret BBQ recipe. Cleaning not only avoids having last night’s steak marinade on tonight’s salmon, but it also extends the life of your grill. Below are 6 tips on how to clean your grill.
Remember to clean your grill regularly, same as you do your stovetops, and there will be less wear and tear on your grill. Happy Grilling!
If there is no helping your grill and you are looking to purchase a new one, let Outdoor Environments help, take a look at some of our grill enclosures below.
Architectural Digest recently did a feature titled Garden Rooms. The beautiful gallery of images features elegant conservatories, atriums and sunrooms that according to AD “celebrate the immediate presence of nature.” At Outdoor Environments we hope that in providing your custom outdoor living needs we are bringing a little nature into your lives as well.
Below are some of our favorite rooms inspired by nature.
This 1929 Dallas-area residence features a vaulted breakfast pavilion, or conservatory that AD says “resembles a domed tempietto”.
The solarium at The Cloister at Sea Island, in Georgia, was rebuilt by architect Peter Capone, who wanted to capture some of the 1928 original while making sure the guests had all of the benefits of today’s amenities.
The enclosed porch in this weekend residence in southwestern Michigan features walls and ceilings that are done in the same corrugated metal on the house’s exterior. Architectural Digest writes that “With doors and windows on three sides, the room spills easily onto the lawn.”
“It’s English in style—Lutyens with a Palladian twist,” designer Marshall Watson says of the circa 1897 Summit, New Jersey house. AD writes that, “A porch at Old Westbury Gardens inspired the conservatory’s airy design. The porcelain-and-gilt chandelier is a reproduction of ones found in the orangery at Versailles.”
For more on the Garden Homes featured in Architectural Digest click here.
For information on how Outdoor Environments can create your own beautiful outdoor living space click here.
Now that the weather has turned warm it is time to get your deck ready for barbeque season. To extend the life of your deck you will need to routinely clean it.
Before cleaning your deck, remove everything from the floor and sweep away all debris. Now to the cleaning, you can use a oxygen based cleaner, which is safe for the environment, pets and kids. Dissolve the cleaner into water and apply across your deck with a mop, handled brush or sprayer.
You will need to wait 10 minutes before you wash away with either a garden hose or pressure washer. If you use a pressure washer it is very important to set the dial to 1,500 pounds of pressure per square inch, any higher and you can risk damaging the wood.
For further instructions please watch this short clip from DIYNetwork.com.
The warm weather has arrived and it is now time to enjoy your backyard in all its glory. At Outdoor Environments we take pride in our finished product and want you to be able to spend as much time outdoors as possible. And one way to do that is by bringing your exercise regime out. We pulled a couple of our favorite ways to make your deck multi-functional from Design Milk, read what they have to say below.
The yoga deck
Your deck or outdoor patio is a great place for yoga, whether your alone or with friends.
Also, invest in a set of hand weights so you can also do some strength training in this same space.
The water bike
Bring the joy of your spin class home for the summer season. This underwater bike from Hydrorider works even in a smaller pool.
The water treadmill
If you are lacking in an Olympic-sized swimming pools, there’s the Swimmill. Swimmill is the aquatic version of the treadmill as it lets you swim without changing your position. The water current produced by Swimmill is the one that moves. Swimmill allows you to adjust the speed of the water current to satisfy all kinds of swimmers, from beginners to the most advanced. It makes the length of your pool infinite and allows you to enjoy swimming for any time or distance you choose in your own home.
Want to enjoy exercising outdoors all year round. Move your workouts to your custom built detached porch from Outdoor Environments. You’ll have the beauty of being outdoors with the warmth of an enclosed structure.
Now off the couch and hit the deck!
We’ve heard about “living walls” before, but “living furniture” is a new one to us.
This grass-covered “sofa”, which debuted at the International Furniture Fair in Milan last week, is called The Mow Chair, and is designed by Lebanese architect Fadi Sarieddine. According to Inhabitat.com, “The sleek, wooden chair provides a fresh take on the traditional bench: a layer of living, organic grass lines the top of the seat, providing a nice grassy cushion for your tired bum.”
Both a bench and a plant, it’s a great way to bring the outdoors in! The Mow Chair is available in one, two or three-seat versions and is produced in Dubai.
Is it possible to transform your beautiful outdoor space without spending a dime? HGTV.com explores ways to get creative by making the most of what you already have.
First up: Play up the unexpected. Below, a chair makes a great alternative to a side table, and its imperfect patina makes it a charming vignette.
Painting a rug on your porch is a money-saving alternative that’s also waterproof and doesn’t need to be cleaned!
Build a living wall by making your cinderblocks moonlight as planters. Just stack and fill!
Other hints: create vignettes with potted plants in varying shapes and heights, and repurposing indoor furniture from the attic for use outside.
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7304 Black Oak Circle
Stillwell, KS 66085
913-897-2706
