C omfort on the i n s i ed dna edistuo

It’s getting hot in here. Every year records are broken as summers soup up the sizzle. The problem with summers getting hotter is that it means either investing in an air-conditioner or suffering through the blaze of summer. The best option, though, is to make a comfortable place to be at peace outside of your home.

The 21st century has come with great advents in technology that can weather many things. Solar lighting fixtures, water-resistant speakers, and even portable projectors are all ways to bring a bit of the indoors out and get comfy in the open air when the heat inside becomes a bit oppressive.

The ability to transform a backyard into a fully functional entertainment area has become easier and more compactly controllable within the 21st century. From pool pump controls to weather-proof television arrays and surround sound hidden in decorative rocks or plant pots, you can transform your deck or outdoor living space into the completely integrated living and entertainment experience of indoors.

Enjoying a cool evening with the highest quality of music entertainment and accompanying lighting outdoors is a touchscreen away from transforming your backyard into an unparalleled home experience. One of the best improvements you can make to an outdoor space is creating an extension of your living room.

More than just having a regular patio or verandah area with basic and bare bones, adding the comforts of the interior to your exterior can increase the liveability of your outdoor spaces. One of the current trends in décor additions is with hanging chairs that are cosy and comfy and can be placed almost anywhere.

Day beds and soft couch cushions can make all the difference to outdoor couches that tend to be harder and hardier than indoor counterparts. Pixie or fairy lighting, multiple colours, tapestries, sculptures and other artwork are all ways to craft a more intimate area outdoors that can be perfect for entertaining conversation, game nights, or even outdoor movie marathons.

One of the first steps to creating a quaint outdoor space is in privacy. Huge concrete walls are one way to go but if it’s the comforts of blending nature with indoor comfort, beautiful shrubs and flowering plants are the better path to take.

The most popular hedge for privacy in Barbados is the pittosporum, but thunbergia also grows quickly, thickly, and produces pretty purple flowers. A perimeter of lush plant life can be the basis for building up your outdoor oasis. If you’ve got a stone or wood deck, choose furniture that flows appropriately with the textures and colours at hand.

Pergolas and other outdoor roof spaces may not offer complete protection from rainy evenings but additions of awnings or drop-down guards for when rains come can keep you enjoying your outdoor space in any weather.

After creating your privacy barrier and shelter for where your intended melding of the comforts of inside with the quaintness of nature is to be, figuring out how much you can do with what you’ve already got is the next step.

You don’t need a huge verandah to make for a cosy and functional exterior room. A sectional couch is a great way to go as the pieces can be customised to purpose. Pull apart your couch and you have a little more seating, push all the pieces together and you can create a cosy day bed for relaxing in the cool night breeze.

Remember, you don’t have to stick with durable cushions—they can always be stored when not in use. Blankets, throws, and all sorts of accents can add a bit of warmth to even the most basic of outdoor furniture.

Hanging plants from the corners and along the edges of patio roofing can also create a semi-barrier between your lighted area for relaxation and the deeper dark of the rest of your yard. Speaking of lighting—crazy bright lights are not the way to go when it comes to illuminating your outdoor areas.

The key to keeping outdoor spaces comfortable is atmospheric lighting. Making an outdoor space more liveable should involve a flow and Feng Shui that melds with nature rather than clashing in contrast. Fairy lights can mimic stars or fireflies, while warm amber lights aren’t as harsh as straight white LEDs.

A great addition that is unusual for outdoor spaces can be a rug to offer some comfort to bare feet. If your outdoor space doesn’t get inundated with water every time it rains, a soft rug could make your space more inviting for shoeless comfort at night.

If you don’t want to bring a whole television into your outdoor space, modern projectors are improved markedly. Keeping one wall bare or having a canvas that can roll over a piece of framed art and transform it into a movie screen is a great way to spend more time enjoying your outdoor spaces.

Whether you’re going big and creating a bohemian lounge of comfort or simply adding a few soft touches to make a cosy corner, improving your outdoor living is the best way to beat the coming heat of the summer while having a special place to entertain others and create a sanctuary for the self.

They say don’t judge a book by its cover. Sure, that’s a great lesson to teach to children. However, most judgements begin at face value. That’s precisely why the covers of books are made to be eye-catching. The same goes for homes. Whether you’re looking to resell or not, another adage states that first impressions are everything.

No one likes to be accused of being judgemental. However, judging is how we determine our initial interest in literally everything a human decides to take on. The amount of work that home sellers put into the appeal of the exterior of a home is directly related to the influx of interest that will be generated in the property.

So many factors can decide whether or not people will be interested in purchasing or even visiting your abode depending on the presentation of its exterior façade. Humans are phenomenal creatures. Our brains do many weird things. Associating random shapes with familiar patterns is one of these amazing things.

Pareidolia is the tendency of humans to interpret meaningful images from random patterns. Think about it like seeing shapes in clouds or the man on the moon. Likewise, we associate the front of a house with it having a face. The presentation of a front yard, fencing, gardens, and a generally appealing exterior is going to either invite and intrigue or drive people away.

Small additions and a limited budget don’t have to be the big hurdles one may think when it comes to giving your house a bit of a face-lift. The biggest differences can come with the simple upkeep of your home’s street-facing front. A well-maintained yard, sharp edging from grass to path structures, weed-less driveways, and not having mould or visible water damage dragging down from windows and walls is a good way to start.

From cosmetic improvements to simple maintenance and going bigger to a bit of landscaping, beautification of the first thing people see when they approach your house can not only improve interest in purchasing, but it can have a marked psychological effect on you approaching your home every day. Especially in the Barbados realty market of today, standing out can be a little difficult. Across the island, developments are popping up with increasing frequency. Sure, many of the new developments boast different styles of homes within the same neighbourhood to break up the seeming monotony of cookiecutter houses. However, what makes one stand out from the other is a touch of personality.

Everyone has their individual taste and preference, whether it’s a black steel gate, a white panel fence, or an open front garden area for the world to see—customising your curb appeal can create a sense of inviting or craft a private space to offer a sense of a cosy sanctuary separate from everything else.

The most common-sense improvement to the exterior, as mentioned earlier, is in clean edging from grass to stone areas, wellmanicured shrubbery and other flora, and clean surfaces that are free of mould or fading faces.

A quick, easy, and, most importantly, cheap way to brighten the front of your home is by colouring your front door or adding accents to the entrance of the abode. Some carefully laid tiles around the door frame, adding some potted plants, and a quietly contrasting coloured door can make a statement with very little effort.

Blues compliment the greenery of plants, and pastel colours can add a little quaint touch while also giving your entrance a little bit of a pop. Cute window shutters can also improve the look of the front of your house as windows are like the eyes of your home, and a charming shutter can add a bit of whimsy and a sense of completion to boring window frames.

A work of art can also set you apart. A medium or large hanging piece can add a little focus to bare walls on the front of your home. Large, windowless walls create negative space and a feeling of something missing. Why not spice up an exterior wall with some woodcraft or other relatively inexpensive adornment?

Going along with the idea of shutters to add interest to bland windows, little box gardens with vibrant green plants can also transform windows into points of interest. The type of lighting you choose should also accent whatever additions you make to your exterior.

If you’re going to the trouble of adding plants to a walking path, flowers to window boxes, art to empty exterior walls, or other sculptures, plants, or fixtures— illuminating these additions is a must so that the intrigue and personality can pop in the late evening as well.

Having a cute-looking entrance when guests arrive in daylight can be just one aspect as your curb can transform into an entirely different atmosphere when the sun goes down and soft amber or cool lighting comes on to emphasise all the trimmings you’ve added.