Creating an Outdoor Living Space in Meaford

Creating an outdoor kitchen or living area is a great way to add value to your home and to extend your living space. There are many local landscape companies in the Meaford and Blue Mountain area that you can chose from to help you bring your ideas to life.

What makes an outdoor living space enjoyable is the natural surroundings. With a little work and effort, you too can have a place where you can raise your feet and deeply feel the true meaning of relaxation outdoors.

Have a humdrum porch? A basic patio or a neglected deck? Some simple additions—a hanging swing, mood lighting, a vintage find or two—are all it takes to transform an ordinary outdoor space into an open-air living room that adds value and comfort to your home year-round

If you are working on a budget, here is a method of creating a patio area that you can make on your own. Before tackling this, the best thing to do is to plan it on paper first. You’ll need to measure the area, make sure that you allow for future extensions, once you have enjoyed relaxing in your new space you will probably want to increase its size.

Once you have determined the size of your outdoor living space you have to start by creating a base. If the area is sodded then you may want to remove the sod and add a material that requires less maintenance, such as slate, pea gravel, brick, fieldstone or other similar outdoor stone. This is also a good idea if you are planning to set wooden furniture on the ground. Wooden furniture tends to rot more quickly when placed on grass, mulch or earth. After the sod has been removed, to avoid weed growth, I would recommend laying out landscape fabric. Next, you may want to border the area, to prevent grass from growing back into the area, and it makes mowing the grass much easier. Then add a layer of stone dust, about an inch or so thick, and level with a rake. If you are adding any flagstone or other large flat rock just make sure that you adjust the stone dust underneath the rock so that it lays flat, and won’t be uneven and wobbly.

Once the rocks are all in place then you just need to fill in the gaps between the rocks with either pea gravel or some other type of filler. If you want to save extra money and would rather not add large stones, just fill in the area with pea gravel or any other type of gravel that you would prefer. Now you’re all set to add some outdoor furniture and/or large planters. Living outdoors in the spring, summer and fall brings you that much closer to nature which is our Georgian Bay area lifestyle!

Doug Slain is Meaford’s Military Relocation Expert and an approved Realtor with Brookfield GRS.  Doug can help Military Personnel with their House Hunting Trip, IRP information and much more!  

Call Doug Slain at 519-538-3388 or Cell Phone at 519-477-4499

Doug will be happy to answer any questions you may have, whether buying or selling in the Meaford area.