Creating A More Comfortable Home

Your backyard provides you outdoor space that you can use as an extension to your home's living space when the weather is nice — but only as long as you can improve the space enough to make it comfortable during the heat of the afternoon summer sun. To make your backyard area comfortable, you need to shield it from the sun's hot rays and radiation, but also provide a block from the wind and summer rainstorms. Here are some tips and ways you can improve the function and use of your backyard this summer.

Install a Patio Awning

Your home likely has a concrete patio that extends from the backside of your home where you set up a seating area of outdoor furniture of table and chairs for occasional outdoor events. However, the concrete acts as a solar reflection to heat up the space without an overhead protection of an awning.

Shade from residential awnings can reduce the temperature in the shade to make it feel cooler outside. In addition to creating shade for your patio seating and dining areas, you also protect your outdoor furniture from the sun's rays to extend its life and keep it looking nice without sun-fading damage.

When you install a patio awning on the back of your house to shield the patio from solar radiation, you greatly improve the potential of this area. The awning's style and structure depend on your preference, and you can select a fixed awning or one that is retractable to roll it up and away when you don't need it. Also, your backyard awning can be made of metal, wood, or a composite material that withstands the outside elements and looks great. 

Plant Shade-Producing Landscaping

Another way to make your backyard more comfortable with shade or to add onto the shade from your awning is to add in landscaping that creates its own natural shade. Planting trees and large shrubbery around areas of your backyard will shelter the space from the sun's rays and also make your outdoor space more beautiful. 

Plant or place trees and shrubbery in areas of your yard where they will provide shade for your patio. You can also plant them on the edges of your yard to create shade and also provide privacy. If you do not want to decide on a permanent spot for your landscaping, you can plant it is planter pots, which you can move around.