Green Living: Make Your Yard an Outdoor Living Space

Spending your time outdoors is healthy, stress relieving and cuts energy consumption for a greener lifestyle. Outdoor living spaces provide a peaceful and tranquil refuge from the hustle and bustle in our everyday lives. By using the following guidelines you can easily transform your yard into a comfortable and inviting outdoor living space in a short amount of time.

1. Make your space more intimate by creating a structure from trellises or bamboo wall dividers. Even plants make a good barrier between you and the world and nothing soothes the soul quite like growing your own personal paradise. Choose succulents and other water sparing plants for landscaping.
2. Use comfortable furniture made of sustainable woods or recycled wrought iron in your outdoor space. Pillows are great for decorating and personalizing your space.

3. Decorate your space with unique items you find aesthetically pleasing. A statuary or even garden stones you make yourself. Wind chimes offer a soothing melody and come in a variety of styles. Many manufactures market sustainable or recycled materials.
4. Install solar lights to enjoy at night. If you are unable to enjoy your tranquil refuge until later in the evening lights are a necessity. LED solar powered garden lights and lanterns are fairly inexpensive and last for many years.
5. Create harmony in your outdoor living space by incorporating the five elements of Feng Shui in your design. Each of the elements can by symbolized literally or through color. The elements and their corresponding colors are:

• Wood – green and brown
• Fire – red, strong yellow, pink, purple and orange
• Earth – light yellow, light brown
• Metal – white and gray
• Water – blue and black

Before you know it you will be relaxing in your newly transformed outdoor earth friendly oasis.