Now that spring is well underway, many home renovators are considering quick and easy ways to add some beauty as well as practicality to their outdoor living setup. Unfortunately, not everyone can afford a home extension as extravagant as a Florida room. However, a good supplement for still feeling the cool breeze of spring and seeing the beautiful blooms after a long winter while still enjoying shade as it turns into the summer months is a pergola.
A pergola or canopy is a structure often affixed to the side of a house, usually by the backyard entrance. Under a pergola, homeowners are encouraged to take the opportunity to enjoy some outdoor dining or simply lounge in any assortment of furniture, since the canopy protects the furniture within from damage by rain, much like a car in a carport.
Here, we’ll discuss the benefits of adding a pergola to your home’s features and learn what possibilities can be had under this shady slice of heaven.
A pergola allows you to be outdoors comfortably for longer periods of time.
- As spring turns into summer, there’s nothing better than sitting outside and watching as the seasons change, the flowers and other greenery slowly transforming from active to dormant stages even as the sun goes down. Thanks to a pergola, you can enjoy this experience any time you would like! With the addition of shade and the possibility to use less “traditional” patio furniture such as sofas and couches, curling up with a good book and watching the birds and other small critters go by around you is easier than ever, and with significantly reduced risk of sunburn or heat stroke and all the benefits of enjoying the outdoors in the safety and comfort of your backyard.
A pergola is a fantastic addition for anyone interested in open-air grilling.
- A bonus of being under a well-canopied area outside is that certain activities such as outdoor grilling, can be much easier had without any worry of getting too overheated cooking outdoors or worrying about rain. Now, if it does rain, you can finish what you were cooking and you and your guests can still choose to eat outside. Either way, rain won’t dash your efforts of making a nice homecooked meal for your friends!
You can garden with certain types of pergolas.
- If your pergola is slotted at the roof, while creating less weatherproofing benefits, it adds a great environment for certain plants! Pergolas have the perfect type of structure for certain climbing plants and flowers, and advanced gardeners will enjoy the structural usefulness of a beautiful outdoor canopy. They can lounge in more weather-appropriate patio furniture while admiring their blooming collection of classic ornamentals such as clematis, trumpet vines, wisteria, English ivy, and honeysuckle.
You can enjoy the benefits of your pergola year-round.
- While putting up a pergola during the spring is certainly one of the best times to enjoy the benefits as the seasons change around us, a pergola is made to be enjoyed year-round and under all outdoor conditions! During the summer months, large fans either added to the corners or the ceiling of the pergola or on the ground can help make the shaded area a bit more inviting than it already is, and during the winter months, a space heater or more luxurious option can be added to make sure homeowners and their guests stay nice and comfortable while admiring the winter landscape.
- Additionally, the pergola can be reinforced with a slanted weather-resistant roof and rolling shades on the sides, allowing for even more cover and comfort as the weather may change and become more uncomfortable if left to the natural elements.
Adding a pergola to your home’s overall features increases the property value.
- In addition to doing things such as making your home more energy efficient with solar panels or simply renovating some of the interior rooms, adding a pergola to the exterior of your home is a great way to add ambiance and overall market value to your property. As well as making it a more desirable location for family and friends to hold events in your backyard, a pergola opens more living space for the house, like adding another room without doors or walls. Even for those home renovators who aren’t thinking about selling, adding property value is always a good thing in the long run for people who plan to lay down roots for a long and happy time.
Adding a pergola is simple and cost-effective compared to other renovation options.
- As mentioned at the beginning of this post, other more extensive and costly renovations include adding a Florida room, which for many DIY home renovators isn’t a great option if the resources are simply unavailable to complete such a task. However, for a pergola, it’s only a matter of figuring out whether or not you want to purchase one outright or buy efficient materials and work on building and installing it yourself. Some basic pergolas go for as low as a few hundred dollars while more reinforced structures can go for a few thousand dollars, not including labor costs. Compared to how much it costs to build a Florida room, which can exceed $10,000, it is a more cost-effective choice that offers a more intimate relationship with nature and the changing seasons.
You can get one attached to your house or freestanding.
- This may seem like an odd benefit to add to this list, but it can be important for homeowners who aren’t sure about taking on the potential risk of adding a whole new structure to their house. If for whatever reason the pergola does not fit with what the homeowners had in mind, a freestanding option might be best on the off-chance they decide they don’t like the look and wish to dismantle the pergola.
If you’re looking to spruce up the look of your backyard and make your parties the talk of the neighborhood, consider trying out a pergola today!