Evolution of Outdoor Living by Frankie Flowers

Back in my day, you were lucky to see a pool in a backyard but today the outdoor living landscape has changed! With an increasing focus on outdoor entertaining combined with spikes in the cost of both residential real estate and secondary recreational properties, people are investing in their landscapes and the possibilities will blow your mind.

Take a backyard pool. Costs can range from 10,000s to 100,000s of dollars. Add-ons can include digital lighting, swim-up bars, built-in hot tubs, and more, but my absolute favourite is the auto cover. Think about this: at the push of a button, a cover slides across your pool, keeping heat locked in and leaves and falling debris locked out. I love these so much, I invested in one! As an added benefit for families with young children. The cover is locked by a key code and is safe to walk on; plus, in the future, it will hopefully prevent a few teenaged parties. For more info: http://coverstarcanada.com/

Pools today are not the only source of outdoor entertainment. Backyards have evolved to include giant-sized chess boards, outdoor theatre screens, personalized putting greens, areas to lounge around a fire and more. In fact, a recent backyard bash I attended in Waterdown, Ontario included a permanent stage for live bands built into the backyard landscape – talk about rockscaping!!

Food is always a focus and with outdoor living, this is no exception. Outdoor kitchens can include cooling drawers, dishwashers, and designer barbeques; these are not standard barbeques, with lighted nobs and controlled heating zones, to name a few features. They don’t even call them barbeques or grills anymore but rather an outdoor oven. For more info click here. Speaking of ovens, there has been an increase in the popularity of installing outdoor wood-burning pizza ovens and why not? When you are entertaining, who doesn’t love pizza!

Gone are the days of the strapped-backed outdoor lounger! Today’s outdoor furniture is oversized, looking more like it belongs indoors than out. Depending on the size of your outdoor space, some furniture is easily stackable for winter storage. One of the best evolutions is water and sun resistant pillows, but I still recommend a simple outdoor furniture cover for increasing the longevity of your investment.

Outdoor lighting is keeping up too!Today’s landscape lighting not only helps light pathways and create a mood, but lighting can also be programmed to showcase different colours. Think about the Toronto Maple Leafs making the Stanley Cup finals: You could be watching the game on your outdoor TV while sitting in your pool, as your entire landscape is lit-up in blue, celebrating the next win!

We can’t forget about the bar – it’s an essential item for any party, but in outdoor living, it can be the heart of an event. Outdoor bars have changed in appearance and size but have grown in functionality and flair. It’s not uncommon now to see an outdoor bar with a keg on tap, but my recent favourite outdoor bar was a converted shipping crate not only made into a fully functional bar, but it also had a lieu (bathroom) and even an extra bedroom, for those friends who consumed too many drinks.

The one thing I’ve learned about outdoor living is “if you can dream it, and your budget can support it, a professional landscaper can build it!!”

Happy outdoor entertaining all!!

Frankie Flowers