Love outdoor design? 2017 is gearing up to be yet another exciting year outdoor design and architecture. If you love transforming your outdoor area every season or are considering doing a little landscaping, check out 2017’s hottest outdoor design trends!
Sustainability
With our growing awareness of the environment and our carbon footprint, sustainability is a big issue – and trend – in outdoor design this year. Easy to manage gardens and plants that can last the summer and winter are becoming the norm, as are low-maintenance watering and care solutions, which can also reduce the cost of home living and help homes ‘go green.
Outdoor DesignLiving Spaces
Outdoor living spaces are hugely popular and are becoming even more so as we move into the future. Decks, patios and verandas are all highly prized and valued home additions. More but than just a simple entertaining area, these spaces are demanding more streamlined designs, in which they extend from the main living spaces. Large glass doors (whether opening or sliding) opening onto terraces and decks are also part of the trend and also serve to create the illusion of a bigger living space. Additions like awnings, shade sails and roofs are popular too, making outdoor spaces usable all year round.
Healthy Gardens
Gardens will also no longer be purely decorative as we move into 2018. Another trend to hit outdoor garden design is the concept of the ‘healthy’ garden. Homeowners are keen to grow herbs and vegetables and plant fruit trees now, as opposed to only having a garden that looks nice just for the sake of it. This carries on the trend of sustainability above and community gardens are set to become more popular too.
Less Structured Designs
More informal and less-structured garden designs are also becoming more popular for homeowners, as the seek to recreate nature in the backyards, rather than ‘design’ it with symmetrical lines and well-placed features.
An InFlux of Smells
While we often choose the plants and flowers for our gardens that look the best, scented blooms are set to make a comeback in 2017 also. According to Better Homes and Gardens in the USA, plants and flowers that give off fresh and alluring scents are growing rapidly in popularity. More blooms and less grass is also becoming more common.
With the cost of living on the rise and the difficulties facing the economy, many homeowners are now keen to spend less and stay at home to relax, rather than spending their money on expensive resorts and holidays. In the past, elaborate and dramatic backyard landscapes were common; now, creating luxury is more a priority for many homeowners – especially when it comes to backyard swimming pools.
Swimming pools are letting go of old designs like steps, ladders and deep and shallow ends and instead focusing more on designs like infinity drop-off edges and shallow beach entries.
Sustainable pools will become more popular too, utilising features like solar heating. Mineral or saltwater pools, as opposed to chlorine, are also becoming more the norm and pool designs are now more incorporated into the design of a home and a backyard, rather than simply being wedged against a pool or fence.
