Outdoor Living with Decks and Patios in Raleigh, Durham, Chapel Hill and Pinehurst NC.

Let us help you improve your outdoor living areas.  We will work with you to design a layout that will provide you a comfortable and beautiful outdoor living area that fits the needs of your family and life style.   We concentrate  on Eastern North Carolina including, Raleigh, Durham, Chapel Hill and Pinehurst, NC.

Check out the pictures below and call us to get started on your outdoor living areas.

We look forward to working with you soon.

Harry Lee’s Landscaping & Concrete
Nashville, North Carolina 27856
252-462-2392

Stonework and Landscape Contractor – 5 Easy Suggestions From a Hardscape Designer – Landscape Expert

By Timothy Spruill

If you are thinking about sprucing up your property with some hardscaping installations, then it’s important to do plenty of research into products, prices, and landscape design features before selecting your final design and materials.

Here are a few tips from a hardscape designer for getting the best hardscaping results for your budget, style, and property:

Develop a hardscaping budget

Hardscaping your property is likely to require a significant financial investment. Not only may you need to move land to accommodate your hardscape design, but you will also have to purchase the hardscaping materials. By establishing a budget, you can work with your hardscaping designer to develop solutions you’ll love-without breaking your bank.

Also, keep in mind that hardscaping materials alone can vary drastically in price, so it’s important to speak with your hardscape designer about which materials may suit your budget; your designer may have some suggestions for less expenses materials that look and feel like their pricier counterparts. The good news is that if you are planning to take on a large hardscaping project, you’ll be able to buy materials in bulk, which can reduce the project costs.

Complementing colors, textures, and styles with existing home and landscape features

If you have an existing home-or a completed new construction home design-be sure to select materials that complement your home’s style. You don’t necessarily have to select the same materials that were used to construct your home, such as brick or stone, but you’ll want to have hardscaping features that match your home’s color scheme, texture, and general style.

That being said, too much of the same material can be overwhelming; this is where an experienced hardscape designer can provide suggestions for materials that complement your style without detracting from it.

Sustainability and eco-friendly solutions

More and more homeowners are taking on projects that use eco-friendly and sustainable solutions. Your hardscaping design can help to significantly reduce your home’s environmental footprint. Not only can you select hardscaping materials from local resources, but you can also design your hardscaping in such a way that you can help to direct water flow to plant beds and yards, reducing your reliance on public water utilities.

As you may guess, eco-friendly hardscaping solutions can also help to lower your home maintenance costs!

Longevity and purpose of the hardscaping installation.

Many homeowners have long-term plans for how they will use their homes as their families grow and as they age. When designing a hardscaping installation, it’s important to keep your long-term plans in mind.

For example, some hardscaping projects are primarily intended to quickly increase the value of a home that a homeowner will soon be putting on the market. Other hardscaping projects may lay the foundation for a child’s playground, swimming pool, or patio.

Once a hardscaping installation is in place, it may not only be difficult to move, but it may also be costly. Therefore, be sure that you keep your long-term homeownership plans in mind when designing and implementing a hardscaping solution on your property.

Practical use of outdoor spaces Hardscaping can not only add visual appeal to any property, but it can also improve the way you use your outdoor space. Different hardscaping materials may have different impacts on the way you use your space, so it is important to understand how your materials may practically impact your space.

For example, certain types of stone look wonderful around swimming pools, but they can also be slippery when wet. Thus, if you’re hardscaping around a swimming pool, you may want to select hardscaping materials that absorb or repel water fairly easily for safety reasons. Your hardscaping designer can help you select the best practical materials for your hardscaping projects.

Working with an experienced hardscaping designer can help to ensure that you have an outstanding outdoor design and meet all of your hardscaping goals-within your budget. Look for a hardscaper in your community and be sure to look at photos of past projects to get an idea of the style and capabilities your hardscaper can bring to the table. Most of all: do plenty of research before your installation to be sure that you have the right hardscaping solutions for your unique needs!

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Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Timothy_Spruill
http://EzineArticles.com/?Stonework-and-Landscape-Contractor—5-Easy-Suggestions-From-a-Hardscape-Designer—Landscape-Expert&id=4995407

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Contact us for your Landscaping and Concrete needs.

Harry Lee’s Landscaping & Concrete
Nashville, North Carolina 27856
252-462-2392

Outdoor Living Spaces – Part 1

Divide and Conquer: Creating Outdoor Living Spaces

By David Beaulieu, About.com

Why stay cooped up inside when you can extend the livable portion of your property by creating outdoor living spaces? It certainly isn’t difficult to build outdoor living spaces. But it does take an appreciation for the “divide and conquer” approach.

We take it for granted that our houses are divided into rooms, but the concept of having similar “outdoor living spaces” may sound odd, at first. Indeed, the biggest obstacle standing in most people’s way is that it just doesn’t occur to them to divide up a yard so as to maximize their enjoyment of it. Not consciously, at least. Yet the more conscious we become of outdoor living spaces, the more we can tailor them to suit our needs.

Outdoor Living Spaces: Design Considerations

Part of the beauty behind the concept of separate “rooms” in a house is that each unit is unique unto itself. Consequently, you can install a component in the kitchen that looks great there, without worrying that it would look out of place if viewed from the bedroom. The same is true for outdoor living spaces.

Having separate outdoor living spaces allows you to create mini-landscape designs (each somewhat different from the rest) for each of them. Not that you shouldn’t still strive for unity across your landscape design, as a whole. But the more successful you are in physically separating one outdoor living space from another, the more flexibility you have to diversify without creating a hodgepodge.

For instance, you may wish to include a storage bin for towels in the pool area. Such an element would be functional and would look fine there. But the problem is, you might not wish to view it from another part of the yard dedicated, say, to meditating in naturalistic surroundings. The answer: screen off the pool area with a tall hedge or fence, effectively creating a “room” separate from the rest of the yard.

Outdoor Living Spaces: Setting the Mood With Color

Just as you can paint or wallpaper an indoor room using a color scheme unique to that room, so you can use color to make individualized statements for each of your outdoor living spaces. But here, instead of paint or wallpaper, you determine your color scheme when you select the plants you’ll be using for the area.

Proper application of color theory in landscape design can even influence mood and perception. For instance, the flower colors to employ for a relaxing nook intended for meditation would be different from the colors used for play areas. You can also make small spaces seem larger (and vice versa) depending on the colors you use. I discuss these ideas further in my article on applying color theory to landscape design.

Outdoor Living Spaces: The “Building Blocks”

Think of the structural components of outdoor living spaces in terms of their counterparts in indoor rooms: floor, walls and ceiling. Only for outdoor living spaces, the term, “structural” is used metaphorically. So much the better for you, as the “builder,” since it means there’s a lot less to worry about. Taking out a “wall” because you don’t like your initial choice won’t cause the “ceiling” to come crashing down on your head!

Furthermore, think of the materials you need to assemble the floor, wall or ceiling of an outdoor living space as the “building blocks.” Here are some examples:

For “floors”:
• Grass
• An alternative ground cover, such as clover
• Mulch
• Patios
• Decks

For “walls”:
• Formal hedges
• Lattice screens
• Fences
• Informal hedges

For “ceilings”:
• Arbors and pergolas
• The canopies of shade trees
• Decorative canvas canopies
• awnings
• lawn umbrellas

You have a lot of leeway in your use of these building blocks. For example, the building blocks for a “wall” (hedges, fences, etc.) are interchangeable parts that you can mix and match with, depending on your needs, budget and personality. Hedges may form two of your four walls, fencing the other two. If complete screening isn’t required, you can also define outdoor living spaces with lower vertical elements that may be more attractive/functional. For instance, raised beds, container gardens and furniture. Creating outdoor living spaces isn’t a one-size-fits-all project.

A “ceiling” is optional for many outdoor living spaces, although it does create an added sense of enclosure that you may crave. Ceilings are necessary only for areas where staying dry/cool is a must.

By default, all projected outdoor living spaces already have “floors.” The only question will be, “Does the current floor do the best job of meeting my needs?” For example, maintenance is always a consideration, and you may decide, upon further reflection, that a grassy area you’ve been treading upon for years isn’t worth the upkeep (mowing).

Outdoor Living Spaces: Function

Many of your questions regarding which “building blocks” to use in assembling your outdoor living spaces will be answered if you determine the true function of the “room” in question.

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