The garden of a home can be one of its most valuable and desirable features, yet many people often overlook the opportunities it presents for home improvement and increasing the value of a property.
There are many ways to increase the usability, practicality, and value of your garden and outdoor spaces and here we have put together the five ways that we think represent the best outdoor investments for you and your family.
Give Your Garden a Classic Landscaping Theme
With some simple planning and preparation, and some hard work, anyone can transform their outdoor space into a beautiful and decorative area that can add real value to their home.
There are a number of advantages that can come from garden landscaping, and it can help you to define areas within your garden, helping it to become a more useful space for you and your family.
If you are interested in growing your own food, for example, you can create an area specifically for this and use landscaping to help it to fit in with the rest of your property rather than stand out from it.
You can also give yourself areas to use for relaxation, such as a sunbathing space, or an area that is strictly for your children so that they keep their games to a set space that is clear from your more precious plants or farming area to reduce damage from stray footballs.
Use a design theme and common materials to blend the overall space together, while still keeping areas well defined and separate from one another.
Add a Dining Deck and Barbeque Space
Decking is a great addition to just about any garden and can help you to make more use of your outdoor spaces, especially for al-fresco dining in the summer months.
It is very easy to design and install this decking yourself if you want to get even more value from the feature. With a little planning, even the most inexperienced DIYer can create a functional and beautiful deck for their home for their family to use.
There are a number of different and interesting materials you can use for your decking to make it stand out from the rest. Composite decking is very low maintenance and can give your decking an interesting look and texture. Hardwood decks will require some attention through their lifetime, but give your decking a beautiful natural look and can be stained or varnished in a number of shades to help it fit in with the rest of your home and garden.
Reclaiming and reusing old materials like vintage railway sleepers is a fantastic look, but is more complicated to achieve so we would recommend consulting a professional carpenter to install a deck made of recovered wood.
Add a Hot Tub for Leisure and Relaxation
If you want to add some luxury to your outdoor space, and a feature that adds value and makes your property more desirable to prospective buyers, then you should think about adding a hot tub to your garden or yard.
Hot tubs can give your garden a destination, somewhere to go and something to do in the space. They are incredibly luxurious and offer you and your guests an opportunity to relax and socialize outside through the day and at night.
Though their purchase and installation may be more expensive than many outdoor home improvements, the benefits they offer you and your family, and the increased value and desirability they add to your property, makes them a very wise investment.
Have a look at some of the hot tubs available at Oasis Leisure. Here you can find some incredible hot tubs that are very energy-efficient, self-cleaning, and can be installed just about anywhere to provide all year round relaxation and add some luxury and decadence to your outdoor space.
Create an Outdoor Fire Pit and Lounging Space
Gardens can be hard to make the most of in the evening. During the spring and summer, the garden can be the perfect venue for entertaining guests or spending time as a family, but temperatures and the dark can keep you indoors. By creating an outdoor seating or lounging space that is complete with a fire pit, you can create a place for you to enjoy your garden in the evening.
These types of areas are incredibly easy to construct in your garden and make it very desirable to prospective buyers when the time comes to sell your home. Make sure the fireplace or pit is clear of any overhanging trees and far from bushes and plants to prevent any damage or an uncontrolled fire.
With a suitable seating area around your fire pit, you have somewhere that will keep you warm throughout the evening, and let you and your family enjoy starry summer nights in your garden instead of sat in front of a television with children disappearing into social media on their phones. An area like this doesn’t just add something to your garden, but also adds to your home life and provides you and your family with precious memories of enjoying summer evenings together by the fire.
Build a Swimming Pool in Your Garden
This is possibly the most expensive addition you can make to your outdoor space, but it will also give you the greatest return on your investment when you sell your home. If you can afford a swimming pool and you have enough space, it will pay for itself in the long run.
This addition is fantastic for the health and wellbeing of you and your family and will make your home a very popular destination for your family and friends. They do require some upkeep and maintenance over the years, such as cleaning and chlorination, but these tasks are simple to do and do not cost very much.
With just one or two of these additions we think you can revolutionise your outdoor space and see your garden in a whole new light. Not only do these features add functionality to your home, but they also add value too.
