Whether it’s a tropical oasis, luxury spa or your favorite entertainment venue, your outdoor space allows you to bring part of your vacation home.

Homeowners are making the move outside, taking their everyday lives outdoors into a more relaxing atmosphere to enjoy the sun and breeze without any extra hassles. Today’s outdoor living areas have evolved into a combination of practicality and fantasy. Homeowners are mixing features and functions from their daily life’s needs and habits with elements of their most dreamed about vacations. Whether it’s a tropical oasis, luxury spa or your favorite entertainment venue, your outdoor space allows you to bring part of your vacation home.

The swimming pool or spa has always been one of the main focus areas on the outdoor living space. Today’s pools and spas far surpass those built even just ten years ago in features and functionality. They include luxuries such as salt and ozone sanitation, in-floor cleaning systems, LED and fiber optic lighting, underwater speaker systems and automated controls that allow the homeowner to have a pre-programmed command that will operate all the features or activate any one at the touch of a button.

Lavish swimming pools and relaxing therapy spas are only the start when it comes to creating a backyard vacation spot. Multi-tiered fountains, natural or hand carved rock waterfalls, laminar jets, lazy rivers, bubbling urns and shallow basins are being creatively incorporated to create unique water movement and sound. Today’s pools also include architectural elements like elevated decks, crossover bridges, trellises and illusionary features like vanishing edges and perimeter overflows. If the thought of being in a tropical paradise captivates you, maybe a lagoon shaped pool complete with a rock grotto waterfall is the thing for you.

Therapy spas can be created to custom fit your needs. They can be tucked away in a secluded spot or positioned in a way that creates that “WOW” factor for all to enjoy. Various materials are incorporated such as natural rock spill-overs, custom fountains, mosaic glass tile and granite. For a final touch, surround your spa with the soothing sound of rain with a water curtain spilling down from an overhead trellis.

Many homeowners are including full outdoor kitchens with commercial grills, wet bars, sinks and refrigerators. These full service kitchens are great for that weekend barbeque or a sunset dinner for you and your spouse. Home entertainment centers are also extending their reach into the pool area as we see more and more outdoor viewing areas complete with flat screen televisions, surround sound systems and internet access. Comfortable seating with couches and lounge chairs add extra comfort when it comes to just kicking back and letting your imagination run.

Mixing fire and water has never been more popular. A strategically placed fire pot or luau style torch creates a somewhat hypnotic effect as the reflections of the fire dance across the surface of the water. The use of fire has often taken the place of electrical accent lighting, not only creating an ambiance of comfort and warmth, but lighting your path throughout the entire outdoor living area.

These elements are just the beginning of what is being added to today’s outdoor spaces. With a little creativity and imagination you too can enjoy outdoor living to its fullest and bring a little vacation into your backyard.