Ultimate Guide to Outdoor Living in the Winter

If you love to enjoy recreational time outdoors, you may dread the winter weather, feeling held captive in your home. However, with the right accessories, there’s no reason you can’t spend as much time outdoors in the cold weather as you do during warmer seasons. How can you maximize your outdoor living enjoyment on cold, short winter days?

Ensure Shelter

Shelter is a pivotal feature of a winter-ready outdoor space. StrucXure makes it easy to enjoy the wide variety of weather the winter has to offer. With the press of a button, you can quickly open the louvers of your StrucXure adjustable aluminum pergola to take-in rare mild, sunny winter days. When weather changes to the gray days of winter, adjust louvers to limit wind, sealing louvers tight for fast protection against the unexpected appearance of freezing rain or snow, continuing to enjoy your outdoor escape. 

Imbue Warmth

You can make any environment warm and hospitable with a distinctive fire feature . Fire features are such a coveted addition, they now outrank the patio grill in popularity.  Choose from gas or electric fireplace, fire pit, or fire bowl styles. From built-in to portable models, there are a variety of sizes and designs on the market to complement your décor.

If a shortage of space is an issue, or you simply prefer more convenient warmth, a wall-mounted patio heater, such as those by Infratech Comfort may be more your style. These slim, compact heaters install on a nearby wall or beneath your pergola, providing directional infrared heating, warming you like the sun.

Insulate

Banish the wind, keeping warmth contained on winter’s chilliest days, incorporating motorized screens and curtains into your pergola design. For additional insulation, add comforts found indoors to your outdoor space, such as soft pillows, plush blankets and throws, and rugs in warm shades of red, yellow, and orange.

Shed Light

Lighting is another integral feature of an inviting winter space, as shorter days will often leave you in the dark quite early in the evening. Pair the effective task lighting of built-in LED pot lights with elegant or festive ambient lighting, tucking curtain lights or rope lights carefully around the perimeter of your pergola for a space that is both useful and beautiful.

Add Life

Add the lively green hues of winter foliage for a warmer, more inviting outdoor space, decorating your space with winter-blooming , cold-resistant potted plants, shrubs, and evergreens.

Fan the flames of your love for outdoor living in the winter with the help of Denver Pergola Systems today.

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http://www.denverpergolas.com/ultimate-guide-to-outdoor-living-in-the-winter/

Party Ideas To Get You Outside In the Winter

Do you have cabin fever? Get out of your rut, hosting an outdoor winter party for your family and friends. Take it outside, letting the beauty of the winter landscape take center stage as you gather together to enjoy all the season has to offer in your outdoor living space.

Get a Fire Burning

Dress warmly, cozying up to a roaring fire with your loved ones. A fire feature makes the ideal focal point for your winter party. Today's portable fire pits allow for a fast and affordable fire feature addition, easily and safely installing beneath your StruXure pergola. Open on all four sides and safely distanced from your pergola structure, they present no ventilation issues, offering additional airflow with the touch of a button when you need to clear smoke or vent excess heat.

Emphasize Winter’s Wonder

Reflect the snowy wonderland outside with white accents, such as white snowball candles, lanterns, and fairy lights. Or if you are the creative type, construct your own DIY decor. Add an elegant touch with mason jars lined with evergreen clippings and pine cones, or for an interesting conversation piece and splash of color, freeze red flowers inside blocks of ice.

Warm Up with a Hot Toddy

Serve warming food and drinks, enjoying conversations with your friends and family while sipping hot buttered rum or mulled cider. Keep cheeks pink and tummies happily filled with creamy cheese fondue, toasty bread, and zesty chili, ensuring food and drinks are safe from snow or freezing rain beneath your StruXure pergola addition. If you are hosting kids, be sure to include a steaming pizza, hot apple cider, or cocoa for a welcome treat, and fireside s' mores for all to enjoy.

Get Cozy

Line your outdoor living space with totes filled with scarves, mittens, and hats for those that need extra layers and warm, plush throws for guests to snuggle in. When the fire winds down, engage the additional warmth of slim, wall-mount patio heaters from Infratech Comfort.

Take Shelter

Don't let winter rain or snow put an end to your outdoor enjoyment. When inclement weather strikes, simply slide the louvers of your StruXure adjustable aluminum pergola closed, keeping everyone warm and dry. If winter winds pick up, engage the motorized curtains on your StruXure pergola with the touch of a button, ensuring a comfortable time well into the evening hours.

Don’t let dropping temperatures put an end to outdoor fun. Cozy up to outdoor living year-round with the help of Denver Pergola Systems today.

This article was previously published at: http://www.denverpergolas.com/party-ideas-to-get-you-outside-in-the-winter/

Pro Tips for Merging Indoor & Outdoor Dining Spaces

Gone are the days when a simple patio table and chairs were the height of guests outdoor dining experience. Today’s outdoor spaces now rival and sometimes transcend the looks and functionality of indoor dining spaces. Winning designs seamlessly transition from indoors to out, merging spaces beautifully together into a cohesive, functional whole, enhancing and extending revenue generating space.

How Can You Create a Seamless Transition from Indoors to Out?

1. Incorporate Complementary Architecture
   When designing your outdoor space, add decorative touches that mimic those within your venue, such as beams, arches, transoms, and columns. Likewise, mirroring light fixture, countertop, and flooring choices (where compatible with the outdoor climate) ensures a smooth transition between indoor and outdoor areas.
   
   
2. Use a Similar Design Scheme
   Choosing similar colors that reflect the decorating theme of adjoining rooms creates a sense of flow. Take note of key colors, as well as furniture, upholstery, and accessory styles, extending the same motif throughout both indoor and outdoor spaces.
   
   
3. Add Functionality
   The most cohesive designs lure people in with elements such as comfortable furnishings with ample space for lounging, an inviting fire feature, beautiful greenery, and functional additions like an outdoor bar seating, or an entertainment system with Wi-Fi connectivity.
   
   
4. Refine Your Outdoor Space with Flexible Shelter
   Collapsible doors or glass doors, leading to a covered patio area, creates a smooth transition between indoor and outdoor environments, tying the spaces together and enhancing functionality. Outfitting your outdoor space with a StruXure louvered roof system helps to ensure a clean, dry, comfortable space year-round, allowing your dining guests to transition from indoors to out without being affected by changing weather. Integrated as part of your restaurant automation system, outfitted with rain-sensing technology, or operated on-demand via remote or smartphone, the versatile design of StruXure pergolas allows you to easily adapt, sealing out rain, or adjusting louvers to allow just the right amount of sun or shade within. Custom design your system to match your business’s personality perfectly and style, including:
• Built-in lighting
• Ceiling fans
• Patio heaters
• Motorized screens
• Privacy curtains
• And other design accessories (http://www.denverpergolas.com/accessories/)

5. Smart Operation
   Linking audio speakers, lighting features inside and outside your establishment with smart automation systems enhances flow from the indoors out, unifying the sensory experience from one space to the next. The ultimate outdoor accessory, StruXure is the world’s smartest pergola. With the StruXure outdoor app for iOS or Android, you can link to Amazon Alexa, enjoying voice-controlled operation, programming multiple products or zones on a schedule or on-the-go from your mobile device, easily managing the effects of weather on your outdoor space. Or, if you prefer, integrate with RTS control systems like IFTT, Control4, Crestron, and Savant. 

Ensure a seamless design from indoors to out with a StruXure adjustable aluminum pergola addition. Bring the indoors out with the help of Denver Pergola Systems today.

This article was previously published at: http://www.denverpergolas.com/pro-tips-for-merging-indoor-outdoor-dining-spaces/