As the days are getting longer and the heat is coming back into the sun we all find ourselves drifting out of the house and spending more and more time outside in the fresh air of the garden. Outdoor Living Area Design Generally we all spend more time living outside of the house in the summer months and we are spending more time and money doing this now than we ever have before.

Nashville Outdoor Living Spaces used to be the reserve of the well to do and those with little to do all day other than sit and soak up the sun's rays. But as the way we live has changed we have seen that we too can have part of this lifestyle and we are transferring more and more of our lives to the outdoors. We can now get hold of very good quality garden furniture that will stand the test of time for a very reasonable price as well as being able to purchase extremely good value outdoor cooking equipment and heaters to give us more reasons to be outdoors for longer.

But what of the outdoor areas where we spend our time? Some of us may have a lawn, others wooden decking and other may have a patio, which one best suits the needs of you and your family?

Without doubt a lawn area looks the classiest if maintained well and managed properly. But this is the problem with a lawn area, it does take a lot of tending to and can be quite high maintenance , add to this the fact that if you have small children they will always have a desire to churn it up in as many places as possible by playing some ball game or other. If you have the time on your hands to keep a lawn maintained in a way that it should be then maybe this is the answer for you but for everyone else I would suggest that you may end up with a giant mud bath with the odd patch of green, which is likely to be weeds.

A decking area is a popular choice for an outdoor living area, this is usually made of grooved wooden planks that are pressure treated with a wood preservative and laid across a wooden framework. A decking area can look fantastic if constructed correctly, using rails and stepped areas to create little pockets and sections. As the decking is made of wood you can even drill through and sink some outdoor lights into it, these sit flush with the decking and work as wonderful up lighters providing some much needed light when the sun goes down. The only down side of decking is that although you can get the timber as pressure treated you will still need to give it a coat or two of wood preserver every year.

The other option you have is the patio area This can be paved in any number of different materials from block paving, paving slabs, natural quarry stone, marble or even granite. All of these materials are available in different shades, styles and shapes so you can create quite a unique patio with a little bit of thought. The difficult part as far as a patio goes is making sure that the stones are laid even and correctly, with the correct mix of cement to bed onto as well as the correct mix in the joints. This will ensure that the stones are bedded properly and evenly and will keep them even when walked on as well as keeping weed growth between the stones to a minimum.

A patio area offers the greatest versatility as far as designs and styles goes as well as offering the most options in patio flooring materials. So when you come to think about what to do with your outdoor living area be sure to choose the style that best suits your lifestyle.