If you like the charm and natural look of cedar, you’re sure to love it as a part of your outdoor landscape. Adding cedar planters, window boxes, Adirondack chairs and even bridges, can really spice up your environment. Look for these at your home improvement store or online and you’re sure to find a variation of each one along with other enjoyable designs.

Cedar doesn’t require a lot of upkeep or maintenance and will stay beautiful for years of pleasure on your deck, porch or patio. Decorate around your pool using planters. Hanging cedar pots are usually available, some already filled with luscious and fragrant blooming plants. If you have a large yard, an ornamental well made of cedar can make a lovely focal point for your flowering garden area.

You may not be able to afford a new deck or patio, but you would like to enjoy sitting outside in a great thought out outdoor space, to either just watch the world go by or to entertain guests. If this is your current situation, there is great news for you.  Consider setting aside a portion of your carport, or purchasing a simple carport to use as an outside patio living area. You can use portable chairs and tables that can be removed and stored when your car needs the protection form the weather, or just set it up and leave it for anytime enjoyment. 

The greatest thing about using a carport is you have cover and shade, it can be installed almost anywhere and it comes in some great colors that will either match or compliment your home.  It can also be permanent or you can use it for other activities like housing a boat, ping pong tournaments and barbeques. 

To make it a friendly, relaxed area, arrange your furniture in a way that is comfortable and promotes conversation. You can also add some planters or pots of tomatoes, herbs or your favorite blooming flowers to add a garden flare and fragrance.  Spruce it up even more with some hanging baskets, wind chimes or ornamental flags that tell your neighbors about you.  You have created a charming space for relaxing and entertaining at a fraction of the cost of installing a deck or porch.  What are you waiting for?

Recently while visiting relatives in Colorado, a friend of there’s had us all over and they had just covered their patio with a beautiful attached pergola.  While I had seen pictures and walked under the stand alone pergolas before, I had never seen one that was attached and doubled as the roof for a covered porch.  It was simply beautiful.

If you don’t know what a pergola is, it’s a garden feature structured with an open frame that forms a shade roof, normally for a walkway.  The roof can be made of many things from slatted wood, a trellis; or even wrought iron or vinyl and is supported by four posts.  Many pergolas are cover by different varieties of climbing vines from ivy to roses forming an even denser shade area during the late spring through summer.

You can get a builder to design a pergola that can be attached or simply purchase a pergola kit and attach it yourself.  Of course you will want to make sure you get one that will fit over the area you would like to cover.  It’s just a clever idea.

It’s the time of year to kick back for part of your weekend and enjoy your favorite college or NFL teams.  If you’re having an issue with sharing your space with a spouse, roommate or kids, it might be a great idea to start making plans to build your own space for next season.  (Face it, if you build it now, you will miss the games!)

Where in your house, inside and out, can you squeeze out some space that you can call your own?  It may be in a garage, on a patio, a spare room, basement or covered porch.  It doesn’t really matter where it is; just that there is some place you can call your own.

Start with that space in mind and visualize how you would want to transform the area into your very own TV and entertainment zone.  Start saving a little money every week or month to put toward the renovation for next spring or summer.  Make a few small purchases to keep you motivated and focused on the project and when its right take action and do it!