Making outdoor upgrades to your property can not only provide recreational benefits for your family, but it can also boost your property’s value. However, not all additions provide recreational and property value at the same time. To ensure that you make the most out of your home upgrade, here are some of the best outdoor additions that you can consider:
1. Patio
An outdoor patio is one of the most common home upgrades that you can get. It’s also one of the most expensive. Having a patio gives you an outdoor living space where you can relax, spend time with your family, work on your hobbies, and entertain guests–all while enjoying fresh air and sunshine outside. Apart from these recreational benefits, a patio also increases your property’s value and has an ROI of just over 100%. If you already have an existing patio, however, repairing or refinishing it can yield about 500% ROI.
2. Glass room enclosure
Maybe you want a sunroom to relax in or a green room to take care of your plants. In this case, a glass room enclosure might be just what you need.
A glass room enclosure extends your outdoor living space, but unlike a patio or porch alone, a glass enclosure keeps the space protected from wind, rain, and sun. This makes your glass room usable all-year-round. Moreover, installing a glass enclosure enhances the curb appeal of your property as it adds livable space to your home–both of which effectively helping build your property’s equity.
3. Shed
If you don’t have a shed yet, building one in your backyard can increase its functionality. A shed serves as a storage space for all of your lawn equipment, including your lawnmower, gardening tools, watering hose, fertilizer bags, and much more. It can also be used to store miscellaneous household items that you don’t often use, such as paint cans, power tools, gasoline, and seasonal decor.
Aside from freeing up space in the areas that these items are usually stored (i.e. garage and attic), having a shed protects your belongings from exposure. For example, gardening tools left out in the open can resist corrosion much easier when they are stored inside a shed. Moreover, storing your household tools and equipment in a shed helps prevent them from getting stolen, as opposed to leaving them in the garage or in the backyard.
4. Outdoor kitchen
An outdoor kitchen is not a very common outdoor upgrade that homeowners consider, but it can significantly increase your property’s value and may even be the feature that closes the sale. At the same time, having an outdoor kitchen in your backyard increases the quality of your home life by giving you a space to entertain guests, keeping unpleasant cooking smells outside, increasing your living space, and saving money on eating out, among many other advantages.
If you want to get the best ROI on your outdoor kitchen, strive for simplicity. A basic outdoor kitchen with 60 square feet countertop, sink, inset grill, and stainless steel drawers are already more than enough.
5. Outdoor fireplace
An outdoor fireplace can be a very inexpensive addition to your backyard. You can opt for a traditional fire bowl with stone or brick, or you can build a large stone fire pit for bigger gatherings. Whatever option you choose, having a fireplace outdoors gives you a cozy space to relax, spend time with loved ones, and cook up some tasty morsels on the end of a stick.
However, keep in mind that your outdoor fireplace must be up to code, so be sure to check with local building codes. If you have very young children or pets in the house, you should also look into childproofing and pet-proofing measures to keep them away from the fireplace.
6. Gazebo or pergola
A gazebo or pergola can be a beautiful and elegant addition to your backyard. If you already have a patio or a deck, adding a gazebo or pergola to it provides shade and privacy to your outdoor living space. Moreover, they can protect your outdoor furniture from sun damage, fading, and dampness caused by the weather.
There are countless types of gazebos or pergolas you can choose from with varying materials and shapes. Wood, vinyl, and aluminum are common materials for these structures, all with varying advantages and disadvantages. You can also pick from many shapes, such as circular, square, hexagonal, and more.
These are just some of the best outdoor upgrades that you can make to your property, but by far, these are the ones that can bring the most value to your family and your property. While most of these projects are expensive, they can guarantee a significant amount of equity for your property, and more importantly, they can make your outdoor space more functional and enjoyable.
