3 Houston Outdoor Living Trends for 2015
When it comes to Houston outdoor living, three big trends have emerged: home automation, multiple appliances and flexible living spaces.
"When it comes to Houston outdoor living design, it's about making the outside just as comfortable, convenient and up-to-date as the inside," says Wayne Franks, owner of Outdoor Homescapes of Houston. "Houston outdoor living spaces are used for entertaining, cooking and relaxing every month of the year here, so we're talking about the place where they're spending a majority of their free time."
Here are more details on these three big Houston outdoor living trends:
Home automation
"When it comes to Houston outdoor living, lighting and other systems like audio-visuals and security systems are now being controlled by smart phones and tables," says Franks. " People are even controlling the temperature of steaks on their grill!"
Franks' clients are doing this with Blue Tooth and Wi-Fi connections hooked into home automation systems. Such connections allow a smart device app to talk to a receiver or module, which "talks" to or controls an appliance or system, which in turn can convey information back to the receiver and then to your phone or tablet.
"When you grill a steak with the iGrill app, for instance, a probe in the meat sends the temperature reading to a connected receiver, and the receiver sends that information to your smartphone," says Franks. "So you can leave the grill, mingle with guests and not have to watch your steak till it's done."
Similarly, such home automation systems can automatically stream music to a specific outdoor areas or zones, turn on LED task lighting for grilling or start outdoor heating systems during the chilly season.
Flexibility
"Houston outdoor living is all about flexibility," continues Franks. "Outdoor kitchens, for instance, are becoming transitional areas, since they need to be situation close to the house for efficiency reasons. So my clients want more flexibility in terms of space planning and exits or paths to other outdoor living areas."
His answer to this is the master plan. "A master plan is a list of everything the client might possibly want in their outdoor living space for the future, and what would be needed now to accommodate that," says Franks.
A young family, for instance, might need to save up for a pool or audio-visual area for the kids after they've finished an outdoor kitchen or covered patio: "So we're not going to run utility lines through that area or make it so you can't easily access it from the patio." They might also want to add a TV in the future, but don't want the host left out of the fun – so any food prep or cooking area should face a space where a TV could go.
"Houston outdoor living areas are taking on additional uses and very much becoming multipurpose spaces," continues Franks. "Just as we've seen occurring inside, outdoor kitchens are now encompassing larger gathering areas with bars and dining tables, as well as couches and comfy seating groupings where people can eat while they watch movies or the game on TV."
The flooring of outdoor kitchens is also being extended, says Franks, to make room for extra seating needed during larger gatherings. "Folding chairs can be moved in for the event and taken out afterwards," he explains. "We're seeing a lot more storage benches, ottomans and low shelves doubling as extra seating, too."
Multiple cookers
"An increasing number of Houston outdoor living spaces are featuring multiple, higher-end cooking appliances," says Franks. "And usually, these appliances are built into islands or cabinets as part of custom designs."
The trend started building among Franks' clients about a year or two ago, with a 20 percent increase in such projects since then. Backing up this prediction, he says, is the National Hardware Show's 2014 outdoor trends report, which cited "multiple grills" as a top growing trend.
Contributing to this trend, says Franks, is the popularity of cooking shows, people's exposure to higher-quality cooking via restaurants and the proliferation of information on different kinds of cooking via the Internet. To meet this demand, more flexibility, higher-quality, more precise outdoor appliances have emerged that allow for restaurant-quality cooking at home.
If you're interested in appliances to accompany the now-prerequisite commercial-grade grill, Frank suggests kamado-style cookers like smokers, wood-fired pizza ovens, infrared searing stations and kamado-style cookers like the Big Green Egg. (The latter, explains Franks, are ceramic charcoal cookers that can be used as convection ovens, grills or smokers. Their airtight cooking chambers allow for greater heat and moisture retention, rendering meat unbelievably moist).
"People are really excited about all the options, but they need an organized look plus enough counterspace and task areas to make it function properly," says Franks. "That's why they've turned to outdoor kitchen islands and custom space planning from outdoor design professionals. You want your outdoor kitchen to be a retreat from the confusion and stress of the rest of the world – you don't want it to end up adding to that feeling."
"When it comes to Houston outdoor living design, it's about making the outside just as comfortable, convenient and up-to-date as the inside," says Wayne Franks, owner of Outdoor Homescapes of Houston. "Houston outdoor living spaces are used for entertaining, cooking and relaxing every month of the year here, so we're talking about the place where they're spending a majority of their free time."
Here are more details on these three big Houston outdoor living trends:
Home automation
"When it comes to Houston outdoor living, lighting and other systems like audio-visuals and security systems are now being controlled by smart phones and tables," says Franks. " People are even controlling the temperature of steaks on their grill!"
Franks' clients are doing this with Blue Tooth and Wi-Fi connections hooked into home automation systems. Such connections allow a smart device app to talk to a receiver or module, which "talks" to or controls an appliance or system, which in turn can convey information back to the receiver and then to your phone or tablet.
"When you grill a steak with the iGrill app, for instance, a probe in the meat sends the temperature reading to a connected receiver, and the receiver sends that information to your smartphone," says Franks. "So you can leave the grill, mingle with guests and not have to watch your steak till it's done."
Similarly, such home automation systems can automatically stream music to a specific outdoor areas or zones, turn on LED task lighting for grilling or start outdoor heating systems during the chilly season.
Flexibility
"Houston outdoor living is all about flexibility," continues Franks. "Outdoor kitchens, for instance, are becoming transitional areas, since they need to be situation close to the house for efficiency reasons. So my clients want more flexibility in terms of space planning and exits or paths to other outdoor living areas."
His answer to this is the master plan. "A master plan is a list of everything the client might possibly want in their outdoor living space for the future, and what would be needed now to accommodate that," says Franks.
A young family, for instance, might need to save up for a pool or audio-visual area for the kids after they've finished an outdoor kitchen or covered patio: "So we're not going to run utility lines through that area or make it so you can't easily access it from the patio." They might also want to add a TV in the future, but don't want the host left out of the fun – so any food prep or cooking area should face a space where a TV could go.
"Houston outdoor living areas are taking on additional uses and very much becoming multipurpose spaces," continues Franks. "Just as we've seen occurring inside, outdoor kitchens are now encompassing larger gathering areas with bars and dining tables, as well as couches and comfy seating groupings where people can eat while they watch movies or the game on TV."
The flooring of outdoor kitchens is also being extended, says Franks, to make room for extra seating needed during larger gatherings. "Folding chairs can be moved in for the event and taken out afterwards," he explains. "We're seeing a lot more storage benches, ottomans and low shelves doubling as extra seating, too."
Multiple cookers
"An increasing number of Houston outdoor living spaces are featuring multiple, higher-end cooking appliances," says Franks. "And usually, these appliances are built into islands or cabinets as part of custom designs."
The trend started building among Franks' clients about a year or two ago, with a 20 percent increase in such projects since then. Backing up this prediction, he says, is the National Hardware Show's 2014 outdoor trends report, which cited "multiple grills" as a top growing trend.
Contributing to this trend, says Franks, is the popularity of cooking shows, people's exposure to higher-quality cooking via restaurants and the proliferation of information on different kinds of cooking via the Internet. To meet this demand, more flexibility, higher-quality, more precise outdoor appliances have emerged that allow for restaurant-quality cooking at home.
If you're interested in appliances to accompany the now-prerequisite commercial-grade grill, Frank suggests kamado-style cookers like smokers, wood-fired pizza ovens, infrared searing stations and kamado-style cookers like the Big Green Egg. (The latter, explains Franks, are ceramic charcoal cookers that can be used as convection ovens, grills or smokers. Their airtight cooking chambers allow for greater heat and moisture retention, rendering meat unbelievably moist).
"People are really excited about all the options, but they need an organized look plus enough counterspace and task areas to make it function properly," says Franks. "That's why they've turned to outdoor kitchen islands and custom space planning from outdoor design professionals. You want your outdoor kitchen to be a retreat from the confusion and stress of the rest of the world – you don't want it to end up adding to that feeling."
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