Escape the Ordinary: How to Create an Outdoor Destination in Your Backyard

Imagine stepping into your backyard and being transported to an outdoor destination space. You can transform your ordinary space into a captivating oasis with the right elements and a touch of creativity.

Creating an outdoor destination in your backyard is a journey that combines the art of garden design and landscape design with the practicality of hardscaping and elements like flagstone patios.

Set the stage with inviting patios where you can relax and entertain and add a focal point with an outdoor fireplace.

Extend your evenings with strategically placed outdoor lighting that highlights the beauty of your surroundings. You can craft a beautiful outdoor retreat in your backyard by incorporating these elements. This summer, make your backyard a destination that brings joy, tranquility, and endless possibilities.

Break Free from Boredom: Add an Outdoor Kitchen

You want an outdoor kitchen if you dream of having more than a grill in your backyard’s destination spot. You and your guests benefit when you build an outdoor kitchen that comes with these perks:

Healthier meals that use less fat and more fresh produce
You can socialize while making a meal—no more solo preparing in the indoor kitchen
You also don’t need to run back and forth from the patio to the indoor kitchen to bring out drinks, salads, and condiments—all can be stored in the outdoor kitchen’s refrigerator
Food smells dissipate faster when food is cooked outside. No more lingering garlic and onion odors
You can create a backyard destination centered around your outdoor kitchen
You have many styles, including contemporary, modern, rustic, Mediterranean, or tropical outdoor kitchen styles.

There are many benefits to incorporating an outdoor kitchen into your outdoor destination this summer, but you also need to consider how outdoor kitchens fit within your overall landscape design.

There are three considerations to think about before planning your outdoor kitchen:

Layout and functionality: Ideally, your outdoor kitchen should be near your indoor kitchen. You want to quickly hook up electric, water, and natural gas lines from inside your home to your outdoor kitchen.
Appliances and cooking equipment: Now comes the fun part if you’re a grill master! There are many appliances and cooking equipment you can add to your outdoor kitchen, including

A basic set-up has a built-in gas grill, access doors, a side burner, a compact refrigerator, and a trash bin.
You can go beyond basic by adding a flat-top griddle, pizza oven, charcoal grill, kamado, or power burner.
Upgrade a compact refrigerator to include an ice maker, a wine cooler, a kegerator, or beverage centers.
Don’t forget your outdoor kitchen cabinets and storage, such as access doors, storage drawers, door and drawer combos, spice bins, and trash bins.

How to Create Multiple Outdoor Living Spaces

Materials and finishes: You can pick outdoor cabinet materials to complement the rest of your hardscaping and house exteriors. Choose from wood, concrete, brick, marine-grade polymer, and stone.

Your countertops can be built with granite, concrete, and outdoor-rated ceramic tile. Don’t forget to add a sink to wash fruits, vegetables, and hands.

Outdoor lighting: You don’t have to stop your dinner party when the sun goes down. Instead, add up and downlights, moonlighting, step lights, and garden lights to brighten your night entertaining.

Cozy Up to an Outdoor Fireplace or a Fire Pit on Cool Nights

You don’t have to limit yourself to one fire feature. Indeed, you can add an outdoor fireplace and a fire pit depending on how much square footage you have available within your backyard.

An outdoor fireplace provides a cozy atmosphere that your guests naturally gravitate to when lit. A fire pit can be both cozy and camp-like. Make s’mores, hot dogs, or roast marshmallows while telling stories or singing together.

An outdoor fireplace and a fire pit provide lighting, warmth, and entertaining space, extending your outdoor destination season well into the fall. You can add outdoor lighting for ambiance and to stretch the day well into the evening.

Add patios to each space in your outdoor destination. Connect these patios with walkways, leading your family and friends to the different backyard rooms.

For example, you can place an outdoor fireplace in the living room area of your outdoor destination, then add steps and another patio to create the firepit area. You can connect these two fire spaces with walkways, steps, and flagstone patios.

When you work on your landscape design, don’t forget to pick which type of outdoor fireplace or fire pit you’re looking for by considering these different styles:

Wood-burning fire pits and outdoor fireplaces
Gas-powered fire pits and outdoor fireplaces
Propane-fueled fire pits and outdoor fireplaces

Creating Your Next Outdoor Destination with Synthetic Turf Spaces and Putting Greens

Do you want to up your golf game? Do you want your kids to have a safe mud free place to run and play?

Then you need eco-friendly artificial turf installed in your garden design. If you’ve always dreamed of having a putting green in your backyard, eco-friendly synthetic grass is the perfect low-maintenance surface for it.

Natural turfgrass is a pain for a putting green because you must constantly maintain it with frequent mowing, weed control, and fertilizer. Plus, real grass needs regular watering to keep it green and pristine.

Homeowners add eco-friendly synthetic turf to their landscape design either as a live grass replacement or for these specified areas:

Children’s play areas
Dog runs
Golf practice
Patios
Low-maintenance lawn care
Walkways and other areas within a garden design

Your Everyday Getaway Awaits When You Hire Campbell and Ferrara

At Campbell and Ferrara, we’re experts at designing outdoor living environments—we know how to build separate and diverse sections within your landscape that flow together, such as outdoor kitchens, living areas, and putting greens as examples.

Campbell and Ferrara offer hardscaping, flagstone patios, and other landscape design and build services catering to Alexandria, Annandale, Arlington, Fairfax, Falls Church, Mount Vernon, and Springfield, Virginia homeowners.

Book us today to schedule your outdoor destination plan. Call us at 703-705-7892 or fill out our contact form.

Sources:

BBQGuys.com, 5 Essentials for an Unbeatable Outdoor Kitchen.

HPBA.org, Create Your Best Outdoor Living Experience.

Ideal-Turf.com, 12 Most Common Residential Artificial Turf Applications You Should Consider.

PremierPond.com, Types of Outdoor Landscape Lighting: 7 Must-Have Fixtures.

ThisOldHouse.com, Outdoor Kitchen Planning Guide.

Trex-OutdoorKitchens.com, The Different Types of Outdoor Kitchen Materials.

VerumConstruction.us, The Benefits of an Outdoor Fireplace.