Adding Color and Texture to Your Outdoor Room Through Hardscapes
Posted: January 30, 2012 Filed under: Outdoor Living, Pavers 2 Comments »When designing an outdoor paver project, one of the most important decisions is choosing colors and textures that fit your personality. Deciding what is right for you and your home can be a daunting task, but these tips should help you navigate the process with ease and result in a beautiful outdoor living space.
Color
You probably brighten up a kitchen or bedroom with vibrant paint colors and accessories that pop – your outdoor space is no different. Don’t be afraid to “paint” with pavers and choose colors that make an impact. The best advice is to select hues that work in harmony with your home environment: pavers a few shades lighter than the color of your house won’t compete for attention; gray-toned pavers used with brick houses eliminate the urge to match everything; and, brick-colored pavers add warmth to wood or stone houses.
Here are a few things to consider when selecting your paver colors:
- Choose pavers with similar tones for a coordinated effect. Light colors reflect the light and open up an area, whereas darker tones absorb light and make areas appear smaller.
- A multicolor blend is a paver with more than one color. It can be a blend of two, three, or more colors. Multicolored pavers blend better with their surroundings. Most minor stains are thoroughly camouflaged in the multitude of hues and tones.
- When designing an area, it’s wise to consider where the sun hits, how long it stays sunny in that location, and how much shade is being cast there. Do you want to make that area look larger or smaller?
What colors draw your eye?
Texture
Texture is just as much fun to play with as color when selecting pavers. With such a wide variety of textures, you shouldn’t feel the need to settle on just one to create a stunning outdoor space. Adding multiple textures to your design can add even more interest. Textures can be suited to meet your practical needs as well. Smoother, more rounded surfaces are ideal in high-traffic areas or swimming pool decks.
Here are the three basic types of textures:
- Natural texture is characterized by uneven contouring in varying degrees to create a more organic look.
- Classic texture is characterized by a smooth surface with angles or rounded chamfer.
- Antique texture has a surface that recalls the rugged, time-honored feel of old European brick.
Which texture best fits your personality?
Choosing the right colors and textures for your space can make all the difference – happy designing!
How to Make Your Outdoor Space Feel Intimate
Posted: January 23, 2012 Filed under: Outdoor Living, Pavers 1 Comment »Starting with a clean slate when planning an outdoor living project can be intimidating – Where do I start? What do I want? How do I make this a space I want to be in? The planning process can be even more intimidating when you have a large outdoor space but want a modest, intimate patio. To design a warm, welcoming outdoor space focus on choosing the right colors, creating a focal point, and adding personal touches with accessories.
Paver Colors Make All the Difference
The best advice to follow when selecting patio pavers is to choose colors that work in harmony with your home environment. To make your space feel more intimate, choose darker tones which absorb light and make areas appear smaller.
For more tips on color, come back next week when we discuss adding color and texture to your outdoor room through hardscapes.
Create a Focal Point
The problem with large, unorganized outdoor spaces is that your eye doesn’t know where to look first. Creating a seating area welcomes guests in and directs them where to go. Add additional interest and focus with a fireplace or fire pit, not only will it be a beautiful conversation starter, but it will keep you warm into the evening on chilly nights.
Add Accessories
Nothing makes a space more intimate than adding your own personal touches through accessories. Add a pop of color with your favorite throw pillows and blankets. Candle light adds another level of intimacy and warmth. Bright green plants pair beautifully with pavers. Be creative and make your outdoor space yours!
Contractor’s Corner: Design Centers Help Your Customers Bring Vision to Life
Posted: January 16, 2012 Filed under: Contractor's Corner, Outdoor Living, Pavers 7 Comments »Contractors play a pivotal role in helping homeowners bring their outdoor living visions to life. Each month, we’ll offer a Contractor’s Corner post to share tips to help our contractor partners offer even more to homeowners and their landscapes.
This month, we want to delve into design. Knowing exactly what your customer is looking for can be challenging, especially if the homeowners themselves don’t yet have a clear vision. A design center can be a source of inspiration to homeowners and help them realize their ideal outdoor living space.
What is a Design Center?
Design Centers are outdoor living idea showplaces where Belgard® products are staged to mimic real life scenes. Design Centers are a convenient resource to showcase Belgard premium pavers and wall products as well as design elements, including modular fireplaces, brick ovens and outdoor kitchens. Design Centers are the perfect place for your customers to be inspired and obtain ideas to create their own outdoor living retreat.
Directing your customers to a Belgard Design Center lets them see product in real life settings and showcases how different outdoor living elements can work together to create a beautiful, customizable space. Design centers are a place to get ideas, not product or materials.
Where are Belgard Design Centers?
Currently, there are eight Belgard Design Centers in Calif., Fla., Ga., Ind., Kan., Mass., Nev. and Tenn. To find a design center near you, visit: http://www.belgard.biz/design-centers.htm
Don’t see a design center where you live? Belgard will soon be adding more design center locations throughout the country – stay tuned!
Other Resources
The Belgard Design Studio helps you turn potential sales into actual sales by creating a 3-D virtual tour of homeowners’ dream outdoor living plans. Contractors and dealers can choose from four levels of service. The free service offers a number of existing design plans that already include 3-D animated fly-throughs, 2-D photorealistic screen shots, project dimensions, and Belgard product materials lists. Or, submit your existing plan and have your designs converted into 3-D images with animation. Custom services start at $99 and vary depending on the project. Visit www.BelgardDesignStudio.com for more information.
Outdoor Entertaining Tip of the Month: Grilled Beef Tenderloin with Fresh Herbs
Posted: January 9, 2012 Filed under: Outdoor Kitchens, Outdoor Living, Recipes for Company, Tip of the Month 3 Comments »When January’s chill is in the air, warm your senses, heat up your Belgard® Elements grill, and let the aromas waft along the noses of your eager guests as they patiently await this melt-in-your-mouth grilled beef tenderloin recipe. Grilling this buttery, fancy cut gives it a crunchy crust that makes the meat seem even more tender. The flavors of fresh herbs inside and crispy salt and pepper outside make this recipe irresistible.
Ingredients
1 center-cut beef tenderloin (3 to 4 lbs.)
2 tablespoons Dijon mustard
12 large fresh basil leaves
12 fresh sage leaves
1 tablespoon fresh thyme leaves
6 to 9 garlic cloves, minced
About 2 tsp. sea salt, divided
About 1/2 tsp. pepper, divided
2 tablespoons olive oil
Sage, basil, or thyme sprigs
Preparation
1. Bring meat to room temperature, about 1 hour. Cut through meat horizontally (parallel to work surface) to within 1/2 in. of other side. Lay meat open like a book and spread with mustard, then top with basil and sage leaves. Sprinkle with thyme leaves, garlic, 1 tsp. salt, and 1/4 tsp. pepper.
2. Close up roast and tie with cotton string at 1-in. intervals. Rub all over with oil and sprinkle with 1 tsp. salt and 1/4 tsp. pepper.
3. Prepare a charcoal or gas grill for indirect medium heat, using a drip pan filled halfway with warm water. Grill beef over indirect-heat area, covered, until an instant-read thermometer inserted into thickest part registers 130° to 135° for rare, 60 to 70 minutes. Transfer beef to a platter and let rest 20 minutes.
4. Remove string. Top beef with herb sprigs. Slice and add salt and pepper to taste.
How to set up your grill for indirect heat
*On a charcoal grill: Ignite about 60 briquettes on the fire grate of your barbecue. Let burn until coals are dotted with ash, about 25 minutes, then push coals to one side and lay a drip pan on the other side. Set grill in place.
*On a gas grill: Turn heat to high and close lid for at least 10 minutes. Adjust heat to medium and turn off burners as needed to create a hot and a cool zone for indirect cooking. Set drip pan in cool zone; set grill in place.
From Sunset magazine October 2010
Give Your Neighbors Curb-Appeal Envy
Posted: January 2, 2012 Filed under: Pavers, Walls 3 Comments »The New Year is the perfect time to begin planning projects that will give your neighbors curb-appeal envy. Remodeling projects that improve the aesthetic of the front of your home not only raise your home’s value, but also attract the interest of potential buyers. If you’re not looking to sell anytime soon, remember that Belgard® pavers are manufactured to last a lifetime and will continue to look like new for however long you decided to stay – and in the meantime, you’ll love arriving home every day to a beautiful front yard. Here are some areas where pavers can enhance your landscape:
Driveways
Nothing makes an entrance like a driveway crafted with the distinctive elegance of pavers. Mix and match colors to “paint” your driveway, or choose one color and keep it classic and clean.
Walkways
A walkway can be designed to add atmosphere and shape while providing a clear path to visitors protecting your lawn. A walkway or path featuring a thoughtfully designed mix of paver laying patterns creates visual interest, leading the way while captivating the senses.
Steps
For extra impact, incorporate steps – a seamless match to walkways. Belgard offers a variety of natural, smooth-step pavers that provide another dimension to your scenery. Welcome your guests with an entrance they can adore while they wait for you to answer the door!
Retaining Walls
Retaining walls add variety and create interest in your home landscape. Retaining walls are also the perfect complement to colorful gardens. Walls give your landscape structure and allow you to be creative with textures and colors.
Contact your local Belgard dealer to start planning your project today.
