Budgeting For Your Outdoor Projects Part I
Budgeting and saving money looks different for everyone as there are various methods to use. In this blog we will explain why having a predetermined budget is the necessary first step in designing your outdoor living areas.
The first two questions a design professional will need to have answered are:
- What do you want to achieve as your end goal?
- What is the budget range you would like to work within?
Let’s look at some examples to see why these two answers are so important to the professional design team.
Suppose you want to renovate and freshen up the aging and dated landscaping around your home. The budget you provide will determine what plants and what size plants to use in the design. Depending on your preferred budget the designer may suggest breaking the project into stages – beginning with certain portions of the landscaping to begin and others to follow at a future date.
Suppose your goal is create an outdoor area to entertain. The end goal may include a patio, with an outdoor kitchen, a fireplace, and pergola to provide shade on those hot summer days. Your budget will determine what materials the designer suggests and the best way to break the project into stages if your budget does not allow for all the parts to be completed initially.
For instance, the designer may suggest that you begin with just the patio and a seating wall but with the necessary conduits for electricity and gas to connect to the outdoor kitchen which will be installed next year and footers for the addition of a pergola the year after that.
Let’s look at a suggestion of steps it would take to get to the end goal of a full entertaining outdoor space – broken down into separate projects:
Step 1: Patio and seating wall with conduits for gas and electricity and footers for pergola
Step 2: Outdoor kitchen and outdoor lighting
Step 3: Pergola and fire pit
Step 4: Landscaping
By having a clear end goal and a clear budget plan – your project can be customized for what will work best for you. If we provide you with a design and a plan that is not within your budget, we have then wasted time and resources. We want you to enjoy your new outdoor space and landscape without being stressed about the finances.
If you are ready for an estimate, you can give us a call or schedule online here. We are more than happy to help and get your budgeted project underway! And if you have any questions, feel free to comment below, contact us through Facebook, Instagram or send us an email!
Stay tuned for Part II of Budgeting for Outdoor Spaces blog as we dig a little deeper into things to think about when budgeting, what the step by step looks like when working with IRL and we will use a patio as an example!
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