The Most Popular Outdoor Living Trends for 2016

Thinking about redoing your home’s outdoor space this year? If so, you’re likely dreaming about a fire pit, a hot tub or swimming pool, or maybe a new deck or pergola?

How do we know? Those are some of the most popular outdoor living trends based on a new survey from the American Society of Landscape Architects.

As a custom home builder in Ocala, Florida, we at Luetgert Development also see the same types of requests from our clients. We like to share news of trends and surveys like this one with our customers and readers of our blog. Here’s more from the survey about the most popular outdoor living trends of 2016.

Outdoor Design Elements

Even though we live in Florida, we still see a big demand for fire pits and fireplaces for outdoor spaces. People love a nice fire. It’s the most popular outdoor design element at 75 percent, followed by lighting and wireless/internet activity. Yes, it seems, America still wants to be connected to the internet even when we are outdoors.

Outdoor Recreation

Tennis, anyone? Sports courts such as tennis and bocce are the most popular at 41 percent, followed by spa features like hot tubs, Jacuzzis, whirlpools and indoor/outdoor saunas at 40 percent. Swimming pools, often a standard of custom built homes in Florida, came in at 36 percent.

Landscape & Garden Elements

More of today’s homeowners are looking for landscape elements that don’t require a lot of maintenance and water. Native plants came in at 86 percent, with low-maintenance landscapes at 85 percent. Coming in at third was food/vegetable gardens, including orchards and vineyards, at 75 percent. What kind of vegetables would you like to grow in your garden?

Outdoor Structures

While pergolas don’t provide total shelter from the sun, people still love them and the flair they add to an outdoor space. They help delineate the seating or entertaining area. Perhaps that’s why they’re the most popular – at 51 percent – when it comes to outdoor structures in the survey. Decks are next at 47 percent and arbors at 44 percent.

Sustainable Elements

Today’s homeowners want beautiful outdoor living spaces that save water and are environmentally sustainable. That’s why rainwater/graywater harvesting is tops on the list with 88 percent, followed by native/adapted drought-tolerant plants at 85 percent and permeable paving at 77 percent.

The survey of landscape architects was conducted in February with 803 responding. They were asked to rate the expected popularity of various residential outdoor design elements for 2016.

What do you think of the results of the outdoor living trends survey? If you have more questions, contact us today.