Is your Columbus backyard facing Due West? Here are some ways to be made in the shade.

Do you love a little shade for those lazy afternoons or cookouts in your Columbus yard? Well, there are dozens of ways to be made in the shade. The key is to create the right kind of shade for your home and its orientation. From there, you need to consider how you want to use your Columbus outdoor living space and how the new addition will impact your outdoor living area.

If the rear of your home faces to the south or west, you will be in direct sunlight during the evening when most people like to use their yards for grilling, relaxing or maybe dip in the pool. For easy, breezy protection from the sun late in the day, you can choose a permanent structure like a gazebo or pergola or use something adjustable like a shade or umbrella. Our new Casuwel line is a fun, flexible, decorative option that uses the Sunbrella line of fabrics and you can easily coordinate your umbrella to your other outdoor furniture.

The next step up, in terms of sun protection, would be a pergola. Pergolas offer a nice combination of shade and ornamentation and can be constructed from wood, vinyl or composite material. Folks who enjoy gardening often choose pergolas because they allow you to create a bold, beautiful vertical element to your landscaping. You can easily add ivy, wisteria or another blooming climber to the frame. Plants require extra

maintenance, but they can easily steal the show from a visual perspective. You control how much shade you create with your pergola by choosing the type and number of slats used across the top. Angling the slats with the sun’s trajectory in mind works brilliantly.

If you really want to stay out of the sun, an open air porch may be the answer for you. Or you might enjoy a newer option we are installing more frequently each year: the Shade Tree canopy. It’s a retractable awning that you can extend from the side of your house whenever you want to take the edge off the heat. They are highly effective, offering 80-100% sun protection. It’s also easy to mix and match options to offer different kinds of sun protection in one yard. If you have the space and the interest, you can easily have a Columbus open porch, a pergola and an umbrella or shade in your yard.

One important design consideration you don’t want to overlook is the impact your outdoor living project will have on the interior of your home. If sun pours in the windows from the back of your house, adding a porch, shade or pergola may change that. This can be a good thing if you want to decrease your cooling bills, but it might be a problem if you like having that light streaming into your kitchen.

Archadeck of Columbus can visit your house for a free consultation to take a look at your home’s orientation and discuss the best shade options for you and your family, based on the way you want to live. Call (740) 879 – 3730 or email us at westcolumbus@archadeck.net. We look forward to hearing from you.

Author: archadeckofcolumbus

I began my association with Archadeck in 2001 when I was working for a subcontractor that Archadeck of Columbus was employing for patio installations. I had been working in the Landscape/Hardscape industry for quite a few years at the time and immediately noticed a difference in how Archadeck operated in comparison with other deck companies that we worked with. Over the years of working with Archadeck on numerous projects, large and small, I came to realize the importance of what they were selling; beautiful designs, top-notch craftsmanship and a world class customer experience. This is what drove me to start working for Archadeck in January of 2011 and eventually buying the company in 2016. My wife, Amber, and my son, Logan, could not be happier to be a part of such a wonderful organization. We look forward to the future as we build the outdoor living environments our customers dream of with the “world class” service they deserve! View all posts by archadeckofcolumbus