How To Increase Your Home Value AND Your Health With Outdoor Upgrades

If your home is starting to look a little tired, it may be time for a refresh. Not just a quick change, but a thoughtful upgrade—one that adds long-term value while enhancing your everyday comfort and well-being. Instead of expanding your home’s footprint by adding an addition to your home, you could try converting your home’s outdoor space into a personalized and cozy extension of your living area that not only enriches your life, but also increases the value of your home. For example, perhaps you could create a spot to enjoy the sunrise and enjoy your morning coffee, or grill a healthy meal for your family or friends.

Check out these possibilities.

Outdoor Living 

With just a few careful outdoor improvements, you can enjoy your backyard year-round. 

These easy improvements can instantly elevate your home’s curb appeal while helping increase its overall value.

• Custom Deck: A beautiful deck is frequently the center feature of a home’s outdoor living space. Imagine a multi-level entertaining space that extends off your kitchen—a beautiful masterpiece of local materials with a customized size, shape and features that uniquely suit your lifestyle.

Designing a stylish, functional space to suit your unique needs can be achieved, no matter what your climate or budget. 

For instance, if you live in the Pennsylvania area, you can call on a deck shop in Coopersburg, PA, and one of their experts can come out and help you design a deck that will use local materials that’ll be appropriate to local climate conditions and advise you on what might complement the wood you want to use, or perhaps explore other materials that will perform well and withstand the elements for years to come. 

On the other hand, if you’d like to build a deck in Phoenix (Arizona), you’d need to make UV resistance and heat stability the primary focuses. So composite materials and/or PVC would be required instead.

• Landscaping: A little work can go a long way, such as raised garden beds, a few paths that lead to enclosed areas with living walls, or maybe even a small pergola to protect you from the hot sun or torrential rains. Soft areas with mulch can provide a safe place for kids to play and a soft place to practice your yoga or hang a hammock and read a book.
• Nature’s Accents: Add native plants for texture, color and well-being. Being in nature and nurturing plants can be beneficial for your heart and soul. Grounding yourself through flora and fauna will help you achieve your wellness goals, and you can even adapt your view for the seasons! 

For instance, you could plant mistletoe, holly, and bring in poinsettias in the winter. Keep a winter cactus, which will bring you joy every Christmas when it blooms. In the springtime, you could add a little herb garden for extra greenery and a healthy pick-me-up—if you you run your hand through the plants, they will release their oils and release a pleasing aroma. One favorite is camomile; it’s scent is reminiscent of cotton candy. You could pluck some for a nice cup of tea after some meditation.

• Sounds of Water: A water feature—like a patio pond—can bring the sounds of nature to your garden, while wind chimes on your deck will produce soothing sounds when the wind blows.

Special Zoning

Your whole yard and multi-leveled deck can be split into different zones for multi-purpose use and augmented with durable and comfortable furnishings and strategic lighting.

• Outdoor Kitchen and Built-In Grills: For anyone who fancies cooking and hosting, an outdoor kitchen can makes your backyard a party place where people can gather, eat and share. You can get elaborate with built-in grills, side burners, sinks and refrigerators, or go smaller with a basic fire pit where you can toast marshmallows or hot dogs. 

Either way, if you add an access door to your inside kitchen, you can move freely between the indoor and outdoor spaces, making it feel like a continuous room.

• Year-Round Comfortable Gathering Places: A fire pit or even a full-on fireplace or movie screen can be a great feature to draw people in, no matter what the weather. 

A partially enclosed zone where you can include big comfy couches, bean bag chairs, or built-in benches with storage can provide a place for you to share special moments with your friends, family, and neighbors,

Conclusion

By choosing something modern and distinctive, you can create an outdoor space your family can enjoy for years to come—bringing joy, supporting well-being, and, as an added bonus, increasing the value of your home.

If you’re looking to upgrade your outdoors but you aren’t sure where to begin, you can start by researching decks and/or patios. These wonderful additions can benefit just about any house. Not only do they add value, but adding one to your home can expand your home’s living space in an amazing way.