Renovation trends: Homeowners prefer a ‘backyard oasis’ that’s low maintenance

By Erika Rawes March 29, 2017

renovation trends backyard oasis houzz beach sand tiki — Houzz

With summer rapidly approaching, some homeowners are opting to renovate their outdoor spaces and create a “backyard oasis.” Houzz, a home remodeling and design platform, just released its 2017 U.S. Landscape Trends Study, which shed light on current outdoor renovation trends.

The study included homeowners who completed an outdoor renovation project in the past 12 months, those who are currently working on one, or those who plan to start one in the next three months.

The Houzz study revealed that today’s homeowners enjoy many of the same backyard comforts and luxuries as homeowners of the past. For instance, some of the participant’s top purchases were outdoor lounge furniture (36 percent), outdoor dining furniture (28 percent), and fire pits (32 percent).

However, the study also showed that homeowners are losing interest in some of the higher maintenance backyard activities; and they are leaning more toward low-maintenance renovations, time-saving renovations, and even cool tech.

A surprising 76 percent of study participants opted for low maintenance plants, and most of the outdoor renovators shied away from high maintenance features. For example, only a small number of participants made structural renovations involving a pool (6 percent of structural renovations) or a hot tub (7 percent of structural renovations).

To save time, a significant portion of homeowners in the study upgraded their irrigation systems (37 percent), and almost half of the participants upgraded their outdoor lighting systems (45 percent).

A handful of study participants — 10 percent of those who invested in outdoor kitchen equipment — even added extra features like outdoor refrigerators, pizza ovens, or wine coolers.

Homeowners are favoring renovations that make their lives easier, as opposed to renovations that require a lot of upkeep. Today’s backyard oasis is one where you can kick back and relax, as relaxing is how two thirds of homeowners use their backyard space.

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Smart Home Evergreen Coordinator

Erika became a professional writer in 2010, and her work is published all over the web on sites ranging from USA Today to…

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