Did you know 20 minutes outdoors is as energizing as a cup of coffee? It’s true – scientists have found that daily outdoor time gives people more energy, provides much-needed doses of Vitamin D, and offers immune system benefits.
An outdoor room can be one of the best investments active families can make. It’s good for your health, great for your mind, and smart for your wallet. Here are some proven benefits any homeowner can get from an outdoor room.
Stress Reduction
Outdoor rooms are excellent for stress reduction and unwinding after a long day at work. Somehow, all of your daily problems seem a little less intense when you’re relaxing to the sounds of birds chirping and the smells of blossoming flowers.
The natural aromatherapy of the outdoors can actually make you feel happier. In fact, some of the world’s most happiness-boosting scents are easily added to an outdoor room: pine, citrus, lavender, jasmine, rosemary, and mint. Fresh-cut grass is also a smell that makes most people feel relaxed due to nostalgic connections.
Active Lifestyles
Do you need some extra space for workouts? Maybe your kids need space to practice sport. Add an outdoor room and you have instant space for sports, aerobics, dance, yoga, weight lifting, and more.
Create a covered area for rainy days and add fans and lights so you can use the space at any time of day or night, year-round. Exercising outdoors is an uplifting experience that keeps your whole family motivated and fit.
Healthy Cooking
What if your favorite hobby is cooking? Add an outdoor kitchen. Today’s outdoor kitchens are full-functional masterpieces with built-in appliances, countertops, task lighting, refrigeration, and running water.
Grilling food outdoors is one of the healthiest ways to cook, according to doctors, because it requires so little fat or grease for cooking. So grill up some vegetables, fruits, meats, and more, and enjoy the health benefits while enjoying the outdoors.
Children and Pets
Kids and pets love being outdoors, so this is another reason an outdoor room is a wise investment. Rather than letting everyone zone out on the couch indoors, get them outside for some fun and fresh air.
Your outdoor room can be specially designed to be safe for children and pets. For example, build a child-safe locking gas grill into your beautiful hardscaping, so it’s impossible for it to tip over or be tampered with.
Why not add a special pet zone to your outdoor room? Include a doggy shower for dirty paws, or add a splash pad with custom waterscaping so pets and kids can play together in the water.
Welcoming All Abilities
People with disabilities often face barriers to enjoying the outdoors, so if this is a concern for your family, now’s the opportunity to make a difference. An outdoor room offers limitless possibilities.
Create wide open spaces with room for wheelchairs. Add landscaping and hardscaping that meets the needs of someone with tactile sensitivity. Include sunshades and screens for those with sun sensitivity. Your outdoor space can be designed to welcome everyone.
Preventing Depression
Imagine this: Your outdoor room helps your family avoid anxiety and depression. A Harvard study found that spending time outdoors helped people end loops of negative thought and refocus on positive things.
Outdoor time also lowered people’s blood pressure, lowered the stress hormone cortisol, and reduced people’s risk of acquiring mood disorders.
Enhancing Creativity
Do you work in a creative field? Do you spend long periods typing or writing? If so, an outdoor room could give you a boost.
Scientists have found that spending periods in the outdoors can help people feel 50% more creative than usual and solve problems like writer’s block. Your outdoor room could be a refreshing space that amps up the creativity in your life.
Home Value
On top of everything else, an outdoor room is a huge contributor to your home’s value. Here are some inspiring home value statistics about outdoor spaces:
- Outdoor landscape design, including hardscaping upgrades like stone walkways and planters, comes with a high return on investment.
- Landscaping upgrades will add even more ROI (83%) than either decks (76%) or patios (69%), but all of these currently have a higher ROI than most indoor projects.
- Outdoor lighting is a must for any homeowner. It adds home value, deters burglars, gives your home some style, and makes all of your outdoor spaces safer to use.
- Covered or partially-covered outdoor spaces bring the highest ROI due to their usability. Add a covered area with built-in hardscaping, and you’ll have a feature that’s very tempting for buyers if you decide to sell your home.
- The National Association of Realtors calls an outdoor kitchen the feature that can “seal the deal” on a home sale, especially if it has a certain set of desirable features: an inset grill, stainless steel drawers, an ice chest, a sink, and at least 60 square feet of concrete countertops.
Planning an Outdoor Room
Are you curious about adding an outdoor room to your home? In the Minneapolis/St. Paul area, reach out to Architectural Landscape Design, Inc., a residential design-build company.
We craft beautiful and functional outdoor rooms that help our customers get the most out of their homes. We’d love to help you amp up your enjoyment of your outdoor space.