Outdoor rooms in Australia are desirable with their value-adding features. That’s according to the latest annual report from a leading Australian real estate comparison website. The report states that a covered space for outdoor living and entertaining is still one of the best ways to add value to your home in 2020. So, if you’re thinking about exterior home additions with one eye on selling, you can do so with confidence. Many prospective home buyers not only want to see great outdoor areas when they go house hunting – they expect it. In their eyes, it’s one of the selling points that will influence their purchasing decision.
Homebuyers like to imagine themselves living in the house when they inspect it. By creating a stylish space as part of your home’s exterior, you’ll feed their imaginations with the positive feelings associated with outdoor entertaining. Relaxation, friends, socialising, long balmy summer evenings and even cosy winter afternoons in a sheltered, controllable outdoor living space – thoughts of all these things can make a great impression on any buyer.
In Australia’s climate, outdoor entertainment areas can be used year-round. Winter sunshine hours in Queensland and New South Wales are about the same as they are in summer. Meanwhile, Western Australia is the country’s sunniest state with summers that seem to stretch through autumn and into winter. With plenty of blue sky and warm days, even in winter, Australia is the land of plenty as far as outdoor living is concerned. It would seem a waste not to take every advantage of it, and that is why creating a highly liveable outdoor area is still worth it in 2020.
The latest trends which seem to be resonating with homeowners, as well as home buyers, include pergolas, outdoor fires, built-in barbecues, pizza ovens, outdoor speakers for music, outdoor pendant lighting, and built-in day beds. Larger features we associate with outdoor living in 2020 include an outdoor kitchen in a covered outdoor entertainment area of the home.
It’s becoming increasingly fashionable to call an exterior space “an outdoor room” rather than an “ outdoor entertainment area”. This is a nod to our growing love of outdoor living. This is more than spending an hour or so in that exterior space. Rather, it’s about being there for the day, much as we would in an interior room. Every room needs a roof, and an outdoor room is no exception. By covering the area with a roof, we can spend more time in that space, summer and winter. A roof provides shade in the sunnier months, and shelter from the elements in cooler months. It is little wonder that louvre roofs are becoming increasingly popular as a cost-effective, stylish and relatively easy way to create that much-desired effect.
In 2020, the best room in the house is not necessarily in the house. According to the latest reports from property experts, that is the thinking of more and more homeowners, and home buyers. So, creating a wonderful outdoor space – even an outdoor room through the addition of a louvre roof – you are guaranteed to add value to your home this year, and beyond.