I have a love-hate relationship with patios and other covered outdoor rooms. Having covered outdoor rooms like a patio, balcony or veranda is awesome in the tropics. However, I find that in many homes, this space is often underused. Hence, it is just another extra wasted space in your home.
There are many reasons why outdoor spaces are perfect for tropical regions. Our warm climate often requires us to seek out cooler outdoor locations. In the past, homeowners who could not afford a porch or veranda went under a tree to find a cool shaded place to relax.
Thousands of visitors from colder climates flock to tropical regions yearly to enjoy our wonderful climate and beautiful scenery. Therefore, what is the point of living in a lush tropical paradise if you are always indoors? The connection with the outdoors should be a major aspect of any tropical home.
However, the tropical outdoors can sometimes be a boring, annoying and scary place. As a local, it is not easy to go to an area in your home just to do nothing but sit and relax. Especially if you have to be constantly swatting tropical pests like flies and mosquitoes.
If you have or planning to add covered outdoor rooms like a patio, balcony or veranda to your home, here are a few things you may consider to increase its useability.
This seems like an obvious one, but you do want to ensure that your covered outdoor spaces are adequately shaded from direct sunlight. This is particularly important depending on the time of day you intend to use that space.
In addition to having a roof that provides adequate shade and shelter, consider vertical shading screens or shutters that offer protection from the east and west-facing sun. These could be operable that can be closed to shade you from the morning and evening sun.
This will maximise the possible usage times of your outdoor space.
Sometimes your outdoor space can be in a very public location. Depending on the location it can sometimes be in clear view of your neighbour or persons walking on the street.
Creating a privacy screen to part or all of your outdoor space may encourage you to spend more time out there. This can be similar or the same as your sun shading screen and can be operable, providing flexibility.
Unfortunately, adding screens will take away some of the charms of an outdoor space, which is its openness. Making these screens retractable is good so that you have options.
When we sell the idea of our tropical paradise regions, few people tell you about the awful blood-sucking insects that they come with. Mosquitoes are not only annoying, but they are also dangerous. They carry diseases like chikungunya and dengue fever which can be fatal.
You can choose to avoid your outdoor spaces during peak mosquito feeding times at dawn and dusk. However, they are the nicest times of the day to be outdoors as well.
Consider installing insect screens around your outdoor room. This will allow you to remain in that space without the fear of being repeatedly pestered by mosquitoes and other insects.
Unfortunately, you can find a criminal element almost anywhere, even in paradise. You want to feel safe and protected in an outdoor space.
Providing some sort of security grill or screen may encourage you to use that space more, even well after dark.
I once spent a night at a beautiful beach house with some work colleagues. The house had a balcony with stunning views of the east coast. It was elevated, and since I was in a house full of people I decided to sleep on the balcony. It was amazing. However, I don’t think I would try that again unless I felt safe and secure.
For many of us, our current lifestyles do not allow a lot of free time to sit doing nothing. We feel the need to constantly fill our time with some sort of activity.
As such, our lives today usually associate relaxation with some form of entertainment device. These could be speakers for music, a television, a computer or a gaming console.
Try creating your covered outdoor space with access to some sort of entertainment device. It could be with a view of the television inside or perhaps speakers to listen to music or your favourite podcast.
Having a great view is still one of the main reasons people want to have a patio or balcony. Try to find a direction that has the best view while still providing adequate shade and privacy.
One way to ensure that your outdoor space is used is by making it one of your main function rooms.
Very often the patio or balcony is just an extra area next to the main room like a living, dining or bedroom. However, if it is an actual room, it forces you to use it more often. An outdoor dining room can be a great addition, especially if it can be screened from annoying insects like flies and mosquitoes.
Porches, patios, verandas, balconies and other covered outdoor living spaces, can be wonderful additions to your tropical home. Our amazing climate and lush tropical landscapes are perfect for being outdoors. However, these spaces are usually underused by their owners.
To increase the use of your outdoor space, ensure that the area is properly shaded and protected from the elements. Consider screens that offer privacy, security and protection from insects. These screens could be operable or retractable so that you still have the option of opening the space completely. This will also allow you to have unobstructed views of the scenery when required.
Provide access to entertainment devices or make the area a main, functional room.
These ideas will hopefully encourage you to use your amazing covered outdoor rooms more often.
Do you use your patio, porch or balcony? If so, what are some of the things you do to make it more useable? Let me know in the comments below.
Featured image by Taryn Elliott from Pexels
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I have started utilizing my outdoor spaces more but this have me thinking more about utilizing my patio on my bedroom. I think that I will work on screening it in from the mosquitoes but especially the sand files. That would encourage me to us it more because I love that space. Really love the article.