Well the most important requirement is to contact a proven professional. You can contact a Designer or a Contractor. A Design/Build Firm is the best and that is exactly what All Oregon is. Once you have a professional you should outline an overall master plan. This way no matter what your budget is you can add on and stay on track instead of having a piecemeal yard. So contact us and we can get you on the right path.
The Summer of 2015 came fast and doesn’t appear to be letting up anytime soon. Even though BBQ season seems destined to linger, the kids will be back in school very soon and autumn will officially begin in less than a month – can you believe it? Though the warm weather will probably continue into October, the trees will eventually change color, the winds will pick up and the leaves will begin falling in what may seem like a never ending torrent of yard work. The time that was spent enjoying the sun turns into cleanup and summer fun will officially be over. For many, this means unfinished projects and plans are shelved until next season. Thoughts will turn indoors to upcoming holidays and the outside space will be forgotten until next year. If you are one of the people who find the summers to be too short to bring to life your outdoor living dream, All Oregon Landscaping believes that you don’t have to wait to start the work on next years project. Fall is the perfect time to begin the process. Here’s why.
3 Reasons to Start a 2016 Outdoor Living Space Now
You’ll get extra attention from landscape designers – Spring and summer is the busiest time of year for landscape companies with multiple projects happening and a lot to coordinate. Fall is the time when we can provide a little extra attention to planning a project for the next year since there isn’t as much going on outside of the office.
This is when the summer clearance sales are happening – Saving money is always nice and if you are a savvy shopper you can pick up some brand new items at significant savings compared to what you’ll pay at the beginning of next season. Additionally, you’ll save time next spring and be better prepared to start your project.
Planning is the longest part of the process – Whether you have a specific idea in mind or are still trying to figure out what you want, the fall and winter months give you plenty of time to get all of the details just right. When you work with All Oregon Landscaping, a landscape design expert visits the property and finds out what you are looking for and helps create a plan that works best for the layout and budget. If you want an outdoor living space designed for entertaining, a relaxing retreat or an urban farm we can come up with the most feasible options and start getting ready to make your dream a reality. When the time comes to break ground, everything will be in place to quickly get your outdoor living space ready to enjoy.
Here are a few selected pictures of some of our favorite outdoor living space designs.
Outdoor dining room with water feature
Outdoor living room
Breakfast bar and kitchen prep
Planting a climbing plant on a pergola offers additional shade.
A nice bar table design
Gas grill with plenty of counter space.
Outdoor massage area.
Outdoor breakfast bar
An outdoor area to relax and read.
Kid’s play area with trampoline, playground, and playhouse.
All Oregon Landscaping works in Portland and all of the surrounding areas including Beaverton, Lake Oswego, Tigard, Oregon City, Sherwood, Tualatin, West Linn, and more. Give us a call to get your 2016 outdoor living space project started this fall.
Nicely detailed pergola and outdoor kitchen area by All Oregon Landscaping. See below for how to fill a naked pergola.
Oregonians on the western side of the mountains love their short-lived summers. It’s the few months out of the year that we get to enjoy the benefits that the long rainy season brings: lush, green outdoor spaces, everywhere you look. Cooking outside is something to try and squeeze in as much as possible, especially if your home lacks air conditioning. But when the temperature reaches the upper 90s several days in a row, cooking outside can be equally uncomfortable, especially if you don’t have a shaded outdoor kitchen area.
Ideas for a Shaded Outdoor Kitchen
Pergolas – One of the first things that comes to mind when thinking of outdoor shade is a beautiful wooden pergola covered with vines. While these permanent structures can be weekend projects, it will still be a couple years before the vines provide sufficient shade. If you’re planning on entertaining in your outdoor kitchen between now and 2017, don’t let that deter you from building one. Tacking wide strips of canvas to the beams is a great way to provide shade and add a bit of personality to your naked pergola while you wait for the vines to take over. Indoor/outdoor fabric curtains can be incorporated for added privacy, and strings of outdoor lights in the spaces between the strips can add just the right amount of class to carry the party into the evening.
Sun Screen Fabric – A quicker solution for creating great shade is hanging sun screen fabric. This fabric is specifically designed to block UV rays, breathes well and holds up to moisture. It can be used with other structures such as the previously mentioned pergola, be fitted into a frame, or hung in sail-form by itself. It may take a bit of prep and planning to get it looking right but the applications for sun screen fabric is limited only by your imagination.
Awnings – For another more permanent option, awnings are a good value and can look great if installed correctly. Canvas awnings can be stationary or retractable and come in many styles and colors. Retractable awnings tend to last longer since they are protected from the elements in the fall and winter months. Stationary awnings can also be made from wood, metal, or a combination of elements that fit in with nearly any decor.
Umbrellas – If you don’t have a lot of space to cover, standard patio umbrellas provide easy shade for tables and small corners. Many outdoor tables come equipped with a hole for mounting
Great use of an umbrella.
or you can buy an umbrella stand. If you are trying to create a shaded outdoor kitchen, a larger, free-standing umbrella might be a better choice. Umbrellas are a good option if you need a quick fix that is easy to self-install and are not yet ready to take the plunge for a more permanent fixture.
All Oregon Outdoor Shaded Outdoor Living Space.
A shaded outdoor kitchen can make hot days not only bearable, but enjoyable. With a cool cooking area to entertain family and friends outdoors, you might find yourself giving the indoor kitchen a summer vacation! With the right plan, your shaded outdoor kitchen may even be able to continue to operate into the fall and winter. If you’d like help planning and creating your shaded outdoor kitchen, feel free to give us a call.
Pinterest is blowing up with pub sheds! What is that you say? Imagine a nice, well-built shed outfitted as a personal lounge complete with beer taps, comfy chairs, a television, and anything else you can imagine to make your backyard life buzz! We’d love to add a pub shed to our next landscape design, and it seems entirely fitting because we work mostly in the Portland area. Believe it or not – Portland has more breweries than any city in the entire world and finding some amazing beer for your pub shed is an easy task. Need some ideas to get the inspiration engine running? Here’s a few of our favorite pub sheds found on the good old inter-webs.
Envy These 5 Pub Sheds
Go Big or Go Home. Yes, this pub shed offers a pool table in the backyard! What we love about this pub shed design is the indoor/outdoor nature of it. It includes, a pool table, jukebox, cinema system and bar at a cost of roughly $22,000 (converted from British Pounds). While we realize this design is probably a bit much for some – it is great for those “go big or go home” types out there. Originally covered by Daily Mail.
Rustic is Just Right. This design brings nature a bit more into it but offers a distinct charm. Functionally, it also closes up in bad weather, protecting bar stools and bottles. Originally found on Cloud House.
Personalized Pub Shed. This highly personalized pub shed is a perfect addition to a smaller yard. Little touches like the hanging dart board and the sign make it an inviting place to hang out. Originally found on Reader Sheds.
Open for Business. This design looks like it could be out on the streets of Portland, not tucked away in a backyard. Is this the next big thing after food carts (we doubt it)? However, we love this simplistic design that is focused on function. Originally found on Unique Garden Sheds.
More Fun with Multi-Purpose. This is a well designed space that can be used as a pub shed or place to pot plants or other yard crafts. The slanted roof will drain nicely so that even during rainy Portland winters this space could be a nice respite. The movable table offers a slew of options when using this space. This is a great compromise between pub shed and outdoor kitchen. Originally found on Gardenista.
Pub Sheds For Any Yard
The possibilities are truly endless when it comes to creating your own pub shed. Style it however you like by going either full on “man cave” or dialing it back creating a multi-use space that doubles as a bar for yard parties and barbecues. It is all up to you.
Now that we’ve poked the bear – call us to add a pub shed to your landscape design. Need a complete yard overhaul (and a pub shed?), that’s no problem either. We handle all landscape design elements, be it boulders, fountains, outdoor kitchens, gardens, or pub sheds anywhere in the Portland area.
Jim and Omar were great! They both were very pleasant, professional, did fantastic work on the drizzly day we had yesterday and put up with periodic glued faces to the windows to see the transformation. Kudos also to Craig and to Elida for the initial plan of our gorgeous oasis that is now our backyard. I really love that I have different colors and things to look at with each season. We really are delighted with your work and your company as whole. Each interaction with everyone has been a very good experience. You have been very helpful, Julie, and we so appreciate you being able to schedule our job in time for our pending appraisal. Thank you so much for all that you and your team do – you rock!!Tracy Griffin
We built our “dream” home In West Linn and it was very important that the landscaping enhance the style. The All Oregon team worked with our vision to put together a beautiful plan. We were involved with the ideas of the landscape and with the expertise and professionalism of the team, it all came together timely and on budget. It was a pleasure working with everyone at All Oregon. We knew we were in good hands. We have been in our home for seven years now and All Oregon has always been available to help with our maintenance.Lynn and Scottie Johnson
From the first visit to discussing our Patio Project to the Day of completion. The Energy and Enthusiasm by everyone involved through the project was comforting, that we picked the “Right Company” to build our Dream Patio/Fireplace addition. I can’t say enough about the supervisors attention to detail and follow through. Along with my family, I’m looking at enjoying our new backyard are for many-many years to come!Fritz Gerwe
All Oregon’s excellent craftsmanship, attention to detail and knowledgeable employees helped us to create a truly unique outdoor living space that is enjoyed year round.Blake and LizWestlake Area
Wow! What a surprise to return home and find our new Bog Rosemary plant properly inserted into it’s place in the planter along with the “carpet” samples.
We really like the Premium sample better than the Natural grass (which seems to have too much of the brown blades of grass). Just our luck to always have the more expensive tastes. Looking forward to the proposal to see if we can go forward with the installation when you can work it in to your summer schedule (post wedding of course).
Thanks so much for the new plants. We really love our “partnership” with All Oregon-we make the request and you take care of everything else. As always, we appreciate and value doing business with a company like All Oregon and especially value our relationship with you.
Thanks for everything
KaylaKayla
Our experience with All Oregon Landscaping, Inc. was everything we expected from an established, reputable full-service landscaping company. From the landscape design process through the actual planting of our landscape, every step of the way went smoothly and efficiently, on time and within budget. We would not hesitate to call on the All Oregon Landscaping team again nor to recommend them to our friends and neighbors.” Thank you, also, Craig for replacing the plants in our landscape that did not survive. I was out of town when the crew came, but it was a beautiful surprise to see it taken care of when I got home.Cathy Cutrera
“..Oh my goodness, our yard looks absolutely stunning!!! I frequently find myself staring out at everything all finished today(10/26/2018), and it felt like I was looking at a magazine. Thank you SO much for everything! We could not be any happier! And the crew that was out here for the past 6 weeks was outstanding. They worked so hard and were always very respectful and mindful of our property. They kept everything cleaned up, and I have never seen such a diligent, hard working and competent crew. -S.BittnerYay Done!
Thank you for all your work! We LOVE the yard!!! Even if I knew what I was doing, I could not have put it together better myself You listened to our needs and wants and came through better than we could have ever anticipated. It is a lot easier to let go of that kind of money when you get the results we did. The workers were always very professional, always cleaned up after themselves, and very hard working. We have no complaints! If you ever need referrals or to show someone your expertise, just let us know. If things go as planned, we will need you back next year for the front yard.Heather and Paul Asher
I want to let you know that our experience with All Oregon was nothing less than excellent. From Elida, Martine and his crew and the lawn cutters you could not ask for for more. Everyone was so polite, competent and enjoyable to work with in every step of our project.Bill
From the minute we first met Craig and his team we were instantly impressed with how they listened to what we wanted to accomplish. They took our thoughts and drew up the plans that looked exactly like what we had envisioned. The project came in on time, on budget and on quality. Their customer service is outstanding. What we love the most is that it does not look like we put a water feature in our backyard. It looks like we built our home around a natural water feature that has been there for years. We were told that our project would not be completed until we were perfectly happy. We could not be happier! You know you have something special when your neighbors bring their friends and family over to your home to show off your backyard.Bruce and Joni George
