But the truth is, you don’t need to spend thousands. With some creativity, a few tools, and a right mindset, you can build one for yourself even for cheap. Here are some of the ways you achieve this.
Create a Plan
How Do You Create an Outdoor Living Space on a Budget – You will need to spend money to create an outdoor space. But to help you minimize your spendings, you’ll need to set a realistic budget first. List all possible expenses that you will need to complete the outdoor space. If it’s too much, prioritize the ones that you need the most. For instance, you may want to focus all your funding on creating a deck first, before moving on to decorations. Or perhaps you can start with tidying up your landscaping and hardscaping. In any case, it’s best to tackle a few things at a time.
Aside from setting a budget, having a clear goal in mind is also crucial. One of the few things you can do is to choose a specific style for your outdoor space. Think of the colour schemes, the decorations, and the furniture that you will use. Aim to create a seamless transition from your home’s interior to your outdoor space by planning a cohesive design and colour palettes.
Start With a Deck
Decking is a part of most outdoor spaces, and it’s one thing that you may want to build first. For decks, you have a few things you have to consider. First, what materials should you use? Some of the most popular ones are wood, plastic, and composite. Each one has its advantages over the other. When it comes to the initial cost of materials, wood is the cheapest, while plastic decking is on the more expensive side. However, it requires little maintenance and upkeep cost, which can save you time and money in the long term.
Aside from the material, there are plenty more decisions you have to make regarding decking. Some of these include the colour, size, and the type of decking boards to use. You may also want to consider adding accessories, such as railings, stairs, and pergolas. But one of the things you should think about if you plan on going cheap is whether to build the deck by yourself or not. If you do decide to do it yourself, you can save at least £400.
Landscaping and Hardscaping
For outdoor spaces, both landscaping and hardscaping are necessary. Hardscaping is the ‘hard’ part of your outdoor space, such as rocks, stones, and wood. On the other hand, landscaping, or sometimes called ‘softscaping,’ are the living parts of your outdoors, including the trees, grass, flowers, and plants. To be able to make a beautiful and suitable outdoor space, you will need to pay attention to both of these elements.
For landscaping, you’ll want to select low-maintenance plants and flowers for your garden. You can also create pots, planter boxes, and other useful gardening tools and supplies out of recycled materials. There’s plenty of DIY guides you can use for this purpose. Adding a few trees can also save you money by potentially lowering heating and cooling costs.
Aside from decks, part of hardscaping is creating walls, fences, pavers, and stone elements. In addition to providing aesthetics, they also serve functional purposes for your outdoor space. Walls and fences can give your privacy and protection, whereas pavers and stairs can level off uneven land. They also work hand-in-hand with landscaping, as stone elements such can improve drainage and protect the soil.
Designing Your Outdoor Space
Now that you have added the most crucial parts of your outdoor space, it’s time to add in the finer details. For decorations, you will need to decide which ones to use according to the theme you have in mind. If you are saving money, consider creating a minimalist outdoor space design, which requires only a few decorations. But if you do go with it, you’ll have to make eye-catching decorations and focal points. The good news is, you can find a lot of guides on how to make it. You can even look for inspiration from magazines, articles, and reality TV shows. Of course, you can also do DIY projects to lower the cost, instead of buying new decorations, which can be quite expensive.
