Memorial Day Weekend means, Welcome to the season that rocks!
Not just because Coloradans from Grand Junction to Burlington enjoy great live music during the summer. The rocks on the minds of many Rocky Mountain homeowners after the weather warms and the gardens bloom are those nifty little synthetic ones with patio speakers hidden inside.
People in the West continue to find more time and more ways to be outside, so more of them are investing in the outdoor space of their dreams – on property they already have, not property they hope to buy.
According to Weber, the grill company, nearly half of Americans deem the look and feel of their outdoor space to be just as important as their indoor space. It follows that homeowners who want to perfect their patios now spend an average of $11,000 to $34,000 – two or three times more than they spent four years ago.
“People are showing a marked interest in things like couches, sofas, love seats (and) actually living outside,” says Jennifer Miller, retail manager for Denver’s Outdoor Kitchen Distributors Inc. “We’re seeing people who are willing to put more time into outdoor cooking and just spend more time outside.”
Jason Leist is a sales manager at Best Buy at 4100 E. Mexico Ave. He fields requests for Jacuzzi and landscape speakers, wireless outdoor sound systems, and outdoor projection systems. “People are doing as much outdoors these days as they are indoors,” he says.
Local homeowners increasingly take design cues from such year-round outdoor living locales as California and Arizona, according to Backyards Plus president Steve Walker. He says that patios are being moved away from the house to foster more privacy and solitude. Outdoor electronics, ovens and island grills have become a must. And fireplaces and water elements are rounding out today’s backyard sanctuaries.
