The Outdoor Room

With good planning, cooking elements can be used during cold weather. Bever suggests locating grills close to the house—the better to dart back and forth between an indoor dining area and an outdoor cooktop. Some people just really like to grill, even if it’s snowing.

But even if barbecues can’t be used during all 12 months, they’re still a surprisingly wise investment, Peterson says. “We’ve gone to the National Appraisers’ Association, and they have told us that for every dollar that’s put into a backyard like this, with an island or a fireplace surround, a dollar of value is added to the home,” he explains. “Plus, because they are considered fixed appliances, they can be wrapped into a mortgage.”

Electric Avenue

Remember the plastic audio speakers designed to look like rocks? They allowed you to listen to music outside, but they didn’t add much to the decor. The new generation of outdoor speakers is an asset to designers and clients alike.

“Before they looked pretty fake,” laughs George Ramsay, systems designer at Supercalibrations, a company based in White Bear Lake that sells custom home electronics. “Now they are getting better-looking, and the sound is getting better, too. We also have outdoor subwoofers to enhance the sound.”

Stereo systems are easy to incorporate into the outdoor living space, Dahlmeir says, because the receiver element can be inside, in a protected environment. The speakers can be hidden or flush-mounted. “You can have music around the pool,” he says. “And a lot of spas and Jacuzzis have built in DVD players and stereos and fiber-optic lights.”

Televisions are tricky because they have to be protected so heavily. But Bever says it likely won’t be long before that changes. “People like to have them built in around the grill area so the family can sit outside and watch football or baseball,” he says. “I think outdoor TV is going to be the next big wave here. I’m sure the television industry will be trying to figure out some way to make it so it can withstand 30-plus-below wind chills.”

The most necessary and artistic outdoor electrical system is lighting. Lights are not only there for practicality and safety; they create a particular ambiance and focus the eye on certain plants and pathways.

Bever’s clients often ask for fiber-optic landscape lighting in green space. The lights can be aimed up or down, and they can be programmed to transition softly between colors. The fixtures themselves don’t have to be good-looking; they are usually situated so that the light comes from hidden areas.

Johnson says the market for landscape lighting is growing by leaps and bounds. “It’s really nice in terms of being able to create an overall effect,” he says. “And another piece of it is its ability to bring the exterior space into the interior. By illuminating certain pieces, you make them into focal points for viewers who are standing inside, looking out.”