Fall Back: Pergola Lighting for Darker Days

Daylight savings time is rapidly drawing to a close. Is your outdoor living space outfitted for the change? Illuminate your yard with a brightly lit StruXture adjustable aluminum pergola, helping your patio shine beneath these brilliant pergola lighting additions.

6 Ways to Illuminate Your StruXture Adjustable Aluminum Pergola

• Task Lighting
  
  

• Built-In LED Lights
  Recessed ‘pot lights’ are a sleek addition to your StruXture adjustable aluminum pergola, delivering brilliant task lighting to your outdoor living space. Paired with advanced LED bulb technology, they offer added functionality.  Dim bulbs, alter bulb color, or time illumination. Programmable via smartphone operation or Alexa/Siri/Google voice command, enjoy multiple outdoor options, ensuring adequate light for cooking, setting the mood for a romantic dinner, or adding a fun and colorful ambiance to outdoor events. 
  
  
• Ceiling Fan with Lighting
  An outdoor ceiling fan with built-in lighting is an excellent addition to any outdoor living space. Multifunctional, they provide year-round task lighting and relief from the heat in the summer. Like LED bulbs, many of today’s outdoor ceiling fan options offer remote control or smart operation for ease-of-use.
  
  
  
• Ambient Lighting
  
  
• Rope Lights
  Rope or strip lights in a single shade such as red or blue can lend an otherworldly glow to your outdoor living space. Carefully tuck them around the perimeter of your pergola for an out-of-this-world ambiance.
  
  
• Fairy Lights or Curtain Lights
  The soft glow of fairy lights adds a welcoming ambiance within and without the pergola space. Easily installed, choose from solar and electric with remote control options, including light sequencing and color-changing features. Carefully suspend on pergola beams, taking care lights do not interfere with the rotation of pergola louvers.  
  
  
• Outdoor Chandeliers
  Over an outdoor dining table where height isn’t a concern, a wired or battery-powered outdoor LED chandelier or candelabra can create an inviting, romantic atmosphere.
  
  
• Multifunctional Lighting
  
  
• Fireplace or Fire Pit
  Many overlook a fire feature for lighting effects during the darker days of fall and winter. This versatile addition can provide warmth, an inviting ambiance, and depending on fire feature size and proximity, varying levels of illumination. A popular addition for the cooler months, there are many options for a variety of budgets and styles. Choose from large built-in fireplace centerpieces, chimineas ideally suited to corner locales, and affordable and portable gas-powered fire pit tables that are easy to retire in the off-season.

Help your backyard shine year-round. Contact Denver Pergola Systems and learn more about an StruXture adjustable aluminum pergola addition today.

This article was previously published at: http://www.denverpergolas.com/fall-back-pergola-lighting-for-darker-days/

Get Fit for Less in a Backyard Gym

With just a few key pieces of workout equipment and safe, open backyard space to workout, you can avoid the time-consuming hassle and expense of trekking to the gym. Instead, you can enjoy your workout in the fresh air and sunshine right in your own backyard. 

Sanity Saver

With a backyard gym, it’s easier to fit a workout into your hectic schedule. Squeeze in a workout while cooking dinner or watching the kids, getting your blood flowing, and improving your mood. No commute. No membership dues. No fancy workout gear. No waiting on sweaty gym equipment or embarrassment over your skill level. Workout whenever you like, whatever hour of the day or night that works for you, without monopolizing essential space in your home. 

Designing an Outdoor Workout Space that Works for You

You don’t need a mammoth sport court to workout in your backyard. You can ensure an outdoor workout space that’ll keep you motivated for years with a few common-sense additions:

• Shelter

• Enjoying a workout in any weather is no sweat with an StruXture adjustable aluminum pergola addition. Shelter yourself and your gym equipment, enjoying sun, shade, or leak-free rain protection. Close louvers on demand, pre-program via the iLouver app with your smartphone, or incorporate the latest rain-sensing technology for on-demand response. Our ingeniously-designed gutter system allows you to leave your equipment in play for impromptu workouts.
  
  
  
• Outdoor Equipment

• With the popularity of outdoor exercise, there are many options for larger gym equipment built, from treadmills and elliptical machines to bicycles and rowers. Carefully chosen for your interests, this can make your yard feel like a backyard playground for you and your family. Some additions, such as pull-up/exercise bars, balance beams, and climbing domes, can double as play equipment for your children, providing a healthy dose of outdoor activity.
  
  
  
• Equipment Covers

• Though your pergola will protect your equipment from the occasional afternoon shower and heat of the sun, it is best to protect your equipment with covers. Equipment covers provide a barrier against dust and dirt between workouts, ensuring equipment is clean for your next workout. Covers also guard against exposure to sideways rain/snow in severe weather. 

• Storage

• A weatherproof place to safely store yoga mats, bands, free weights, and other miscellaneous workout gear is a must. This equipment will vary based on your workout of choice. 
  
  

• Workout-Friendly Flooring

• The groundcover for your backyard gym should be slip-resistant whether wet or dry and carefully installed to ensure a level surface fit for workouts. Good options include wood decks, patio pavers, and concrete. Depending on activities, you may wish to top these with artificial grass or rubber playground matting.
  
  

• Other Considerations

• Equipping your pergola with built-in lighting will allow you the freedom to exercise any time of day. If you’re shy or have nosy neighbors, you may also wish to outfit your pergola with motorized privacy screens or curtains.

Don’t sideline your workouts. Reinvest your gym membership into your backyard. Create a backyard gym that keeps you on track with the help of Denver Pergola Systems today. 

This article was previously published at:  http://www.denverpergolas.com/get-fit-for-less-in-a-backyard-gym/