Summer is just around the corner and to many people this means cleaning off the grill, planting fresh flowers, getting out the patio furniture, buying new tiki lights, and prepping for a whole new season of outdoor living. While there are lots of accessories to buy for maximum comfort and style, having the right outdoor living space is probably the most important part of enjoying your patio or yard. With some creativity and research, you can easily build a hardscape that fits your needs and tastes.

There are many types of materials you can use to create your outdoor living space. Clay and concrete pavers, for example, can be used to build patios, walkways, flower beds, fire pits, retaining walls and water features. Variety is one hallmark of pavers. If you are building with clay pavers, you can choose from reds, grays, browns, and whites. You can also choose a weathered clay look and from many different styles. Evoke dozens of places and times-like Weathered Whisper Mountain, Mount Vernon, and Westpoint- in your outdoor living space. You can even mix types of clay pavers to create a unique look. Beyond the variety of clay pavers, concrete pavers are also a fantastic way to customize your hardscapes and outdoor living spaces.

Concrete pavers are perfect for creating beautiful, durable patios, walkways, and outdoor living spaces. Although they do not come in as many colors as clay pavers (they are often limited to grays and whites), they can be textured into interesting styles. Small concrete pavers make nice accent pieces and decorative borders for larger hadscapes. Of course large slab concrete pavers are also important for building patios. In fact, if you are looking for a quick patio extension this summer, then some shoveling, leveling, and laying of concrete pavers offers a great way to the get the job done!

Beyond pavers, you can also renovate your outdoor living space with landscape stone. This stone comes in rectangular bricks, which are perfect for building fireplaces and water features. You can choose from red, brown, grey, and other styles and colors of bricks. Or you can build with a more natural looking stone like limestone. Chips of brick or other landscape stone can also be used in flower beds and walkways.

Once you have plans for you patios, walkways, fireplaces, flowerbeds, and water features, take a long look at your yard. Are you using as much of it as you would like? Do you have a slope in the yard that inhibits your living space? If so, consider adding a few retaining walls to your yard. The use of a retaining wall can create terraced flat spaces, which are perfect for benches, fountains, planters, and other outdoor living furniture.

So, whether you choose to repave with clay or concrete, build something new with landscape stone, or create more usable space in your yard with a retaining wall, with an outdoor living renovation you are certain to build something beautiful and durable that can help your friends and family enjoy the all the seasons together!

Author Bio: Mr. Masonry would live outdoors year round if he could. Until then, he\’ll take advantage of spring and summer with outdoor living renovation options available from General Shale.

Category: Advice
Keywords: outdoor living, clay pavers, landscape chips, landscape stone