Latest News

Carecraft Board Member, Chuck Baumann is also an active member of the Houzz Pro community.  He shared the following article that quotes a number of architects and landscape specialists because of how it relates to what many of our Members are seeing every day.

Pros Share 5 Outdoor Features Homeowners Are Wanting Now

Landscape pros say bigger budgets and the desire to create a more comfortable home are driving new projects!

1. Comfortable Places to Lounge, Dine and EntertainLast summer it might have been about making do with what you had for any outdoor lounging and gathering. This year, homeowners are requesting that designers create outdoor living and dining spaces specifically for entertaining and hanging out.“Since the pandemic, families are spending more time at home and want to create their own outdoor entertaining areas to eat, entertain and grow produce,” says landscape architect Mariane Wheatley-Miller of A.J. Miller Landscape Architecturein Syracuse, New York. “People are also looking for outdoor dining areas with some shade protection, like under pergolas or built rooms, and sometimes linked to outdoor kitchens.”Landscape designer Kathryn Prideauxin Tucson, Arizona, sees a similar trend for full outdoor remodels that have comfort and entertaining in mind. “I have gotten the specific request for Argentinian barbecue features — rather than large gas grills — quite a bit. I think people enjoy the process of grilling in a more rustic way,” Prideaux says. “It seems that people are so ready to enjoy their space and entertain and host and be outdoors with friends and family again.”

Even pros who typically focus on interiors are experiencing increased demand for comfortable outdoor living spaces. Catherine French, an interior designer based in Chapel Hill, North Carolina, says clients are coming to her firm and asking for designs that will bring the comforts of home outdoors. “Rather than traditional outdoor furniture, [clients] are looking for comfortable chairs with quality upholstery and additional living options like having a TV outdoors,” she says, adding that people really want areas where they can relax and spend time outside.

“A great example is that we recently had clients request that we design a large ramada for their outdoor space. They requested high-quality upholstered outdoor furnishings that could be set up to create a true living space, which would surround a large outdoor fireplace. They wanted to create a retreat-like feel that could act as an outdoor getaway but [that was] still connected to their home,” she says. “People are now wanting to look at the outdoors as an extension of their space that can be part of daily life, rather than a separate area that they only use occasionally.”

2. Pergola or Permanent Shade CoverLos Angeles-based landscape architect June Scottsays the overall scope and ambition of outdoor projects has grown as clients seek to make the most of their outdoor space. “We are getting many requests for covered outdoor living rooms and outdoor kitchens,” she says.  Elizabeth Przygoda-Montgomery of Boxhillbelieves that functionality is what’s driving these requests for covered living rooms and eating areas, as homeowners want to create comfortable, lounge-worthy spaces. “Outdoor dining is useless if [homeowners] are sitting in full sun and it’s too hot to eat outside,” she says. With many of her recent projects, Przygoda-Montgomery says, homeowners have chosen to go custom with their shade structure designs, whereas in the past they might have bought a prefabricated piece. “A lot of people like being home more than they thought they would and are trying to create a haven at home,” she says.

Landscape contractor Blake Tubby of Arbordale Landscaping in Toronto says that louvered pergolas in particular have become popular with clients in his area, as the open-air structure (not a fully closed roof) makes the project subject to fewer permits and allows the clients to use and enjoy it sooner. “There is a lot of flexibility in all the bells and whistles as well — heater, fans, lighting and speakers,” Tubby says.

3. Areas for Outdoor ActivitiesJust as homeowners want their yards to serve as extensions of their living spaces, they’re also asking pros to create dedicated areas for playing games, working out and even working from home. In fact, landscape architect Scott recently got a request to design multiple outdoor work areas for a client who’s a professional writer. “[He] asked for spaces to write throughout his garden,” she says.After a year of gyms being closed in Los Angeles and people working out exclusively from home, Scott says, her clients are also wanting to make room in their yards for alfresco exercise. “We’ve had clients turn parts of their garden into outdoor gyms and request dedicated spaces for yoga,” she says. But it’s not all about staying productive and getting in shape, the pros say. Homeowners are also making room for play as they continue to enjoy more time at home. “Three clients in the last six months have asked for bocce courts to be included in their designs,” says landscape designer James Drzewiecki of Ginkgo Leaf Studioin Cedarburg, Wisconsin, which he says has been of the more surprising pandemic trends. When it comes to what’s driving these requests, Drzewiecki believes it’s certainly based on the idea of creating a staycation in the backyard. “Resort-likeseems to be the buzzword from recent meetings with clients,” he says.
4. PoolOf all the project requests the landscape pros we spoke with have gotten over the past year, adding a pool has been one of the most popular — by far. And though they’ve been surprised by the surge in demand, pros say they also understand how now would be the time homeowners would choose to add a pool. “Often, a pool is something the client has desired for years, and the time spent at home has pushed them to finally take the plunge,” Scott says.Przygoda-Montgomery says the biggest change she’s noticed with her clients is that they’re now asking for pools that will perfectly fit their tastes and lifestyle. “People are having fun with their spaces, having fun with funky pool tile and backsplashes,” she says, adding that she’s even experienced a growth in demand for pool slides and diving boards.

In New Orleans, architect Nathan Fell has also seen an uptick in requests for outdoor projects, including pools. “It isn’t surprising that people would see the use for a pool, particularly in our climate, but projects that would not normally have considered [pools] in the past are forgoing other features or costs to either build them now or accommodate them in the future,” he says.

In Charlotte, North Carolina, landscape designer Jay Sifford says lots of homeowners are requesting pools for their projects, which has led to major project delays in some cases. “The pool companies I know are booked out, some for two years or more,” Sifford says.

Even pros in the upper Midwest have experienced the pool surge. “We saw them increasing in popularity before the pandemic, but it seems to have spiked even more,” Drzewiecki says. “We even have two clients who have reached out to us about adding a pool to the landscape we had previously designed for them.”

5. Restorative, Relaxing Spaces

In addition to wanting to create resort-like living and dining spaces for entertaining and gathering with friends and family, homeowners continue to turn to their outdoor spaces as places of refuge — and they’re asking landscape pros to design with that feeling in mind. 

Sifford says most of his clients are requesting immersive, transformative and relaxing spaces. “Before the pandemic, there was a certain number of people who simply wanted to decorate their yard. Now, they want to have more privacy, eliminate extraneous variables and have a healing, nurturing and regenerative platform for living the best version of their lives,” he says. For Sifford, that means adding layers of plants, creating intimate spaces and designing garden rooms with smooth transitions. “A transformative, immersive, peaceful garden is a symphony.… It all flows together.”

Scott says pretty much all of her clients are also requesting yards that will feel relaxing. “Clients are really focusing on ways to destress and unwind after the traumatic year we’ve had,” she says.