Creating Outdoor Living Spaces With Tech & Design

The trend in outdoor living shows no signs of slowing up as homeowners realize that they can easily turn their patios and backyards into extensions of their homes, especially when presented with the many design and tech options now available. From comfy couches with weatherproof entertainment systems to full kitchens with bars and dining areas, outdoor living these days, lack nothing compared to indoor living spaces. So why not take your indoor living spaces in your Greensburg, PA home outdoors this spring? 

We’re excited to say that we enhance these outdoor spaces by designing technology systems that not only perform at a high level to fit the environment, but we pay close attention to product choices and décor concerns, so that there’s a seamless experience as you go from indoors to outdoors. Our designs and installations include audio video, lighting, shading, smart home control and more. Here are some tech ideas to consider this spring when planning an outdoor living space:

The Outdoor Family Entertainment Area

Imagine watching sports, concerts, and movies, while you cook, relax on a couch, or hang out in your pool outdoors. All-weather TVs are now made to withstand extreme temperatures, including snow, humidity, wind, and rain. Glare free screens offer amazing clarity with brightness that can exceed some traditional TVs. Knowing where your TV will be installed can determine the type you should get to maximize screen quality.  Waterproof TVs that are approved for bathrooms are not the same as outdoor TVs, so do not get them confused. Waterproof TVs will eventually stop working because they are not made to withstand all the elements. These outdoor TVs come with 4K technology, and you do have the ability to add outdoor soundbars and additional audio.  If you’re in the mood for a more theater like experience, adding a movie screen and projector is another option – all available in weatherproof versions. We design audio video entertainment areas outdoors that provides an additional room to your home and keeps the family together outdoors for longer periods, not to mention a great place to entertain friends.

When it comes to outdoor audio, it’s no longer about just throwing a few garden speakers in your landscape, as an afterthought. Today, the high-performance audio you’ve grown accustomed to inside your home is now available outdoors.  With the right audio design, music outdoors can sound high quality. This involves choosing the right brand of weatherproof speakers and subwoofer to cover your entire backyard.  Placement of speakers is of the utmost importance for a well-balanced outdoor audio system for keeping the sound in your yard and not dispersed to the neighborhood. We design audio and install wires underground, conceal speakers in landscape and take overall décor into consideration. Another trend in outdoor audio is having speakers installed in the front of your home, to enhance the experience for your guests when entertaining, even before they step foot into your home.

 Controlling Motorized Shading And Landscape Lighting

Think about how many times you would have to pull up and down traditional outdoor shades if you had them installed around your patio.  Well, you no longer have to worry about that, as outdoor shades now come with an app that is available on any of your mobile devices and can be programmed to go up and down at the same time every day.  Motorized outdoor shades are also the perfect way to enclose your patio, keeping things cooler in the hotter months and warm in the colder months, while keeping the bugs out.  They offer UV, wind, snow, and rain protection; while being available in a multitude of colors for you to choose from depending on what you’re trying to achieve with your outdoor space.

Outdoor lighting is also now available with an app, so that you can control and preprogram daily routines or special events form your phone or tablet.  One big feature for outdoor lighting is tunable lighting that can wash your pool or backyard in different colors.  This is a fun feature, especially when entertaining. Lighting can also be connected to security and surveillance systems.

Connecting Outdoor Tech To A Smart Home Automation System

We design and install outdoor audio, video, lighting, and shading that can be controlled by ONE smart home automation app. This is a convenient way to manage all your home technology, instead of having a plethora of Apps. Taken a step further, when you connect your outdoor technology to a smart home system, you can achieve a more holistic approach to how tech works from inside to outside of your home.  For example, shutting down or waking up your home will include tech that is outside and inside. You can also program scenes for outside, like ones in your home.  How about pressing one button when you’re outside to crank up that all-weather TV and audio, dimming patio lights and pulling the shade down? Sounds fun, right?

Outdoor Wi-Fi Is Important

When thinking of outdoor living spaces, Wi-Fi connection is important, especially when taking all of your home tech outdoors.  Nothing will send everyone running inside like lack of connectivity.  A well-built network is needed to accommodate all your wireless devices with coverage for your entire property. Unfortunately, the typical Wi-Fi network doesn’t support much and so hardwiring some of the tech is necessary in addition to strengthening the network. We design and install strong networks, so you don’t have to worry about Wi-Fi being interrupted.

Bringing your family lifestyle outside can be exciting like moving into a new home. When is the right time to connect with us?  It’s best to have us on board from the inception, as we can share info early saving you tons of money and time with the right advice. We work with homeowners, landscape designers, architects, and builders to make sure that tech is considered early to make the right accommodations. Ready to take your daily living outdoors? Contact us or stop by the ConnectedLife Designs showroom, where you can demo some of this technology.