Quick and Rewarding Summer Projects

Outdoor Lounging: Patios & Decks

Adding a new patio or deck is an excellent way to increase your outside time and decrease your energy consumption. You might design a special space for a hobby, like painting, or create a multifunctional patio that can be used for porch-sitting, exercise, and birthday parties. Spending more time outside this summer can do wonders for both your physical and mental health and will cut down on your indoor cooling and lighting costs.

Classic & Creative Concrete Patios

Concrete is inexpensive to install and can last up to 30 years. You might put down a simple slab and call it a day or add a concrete finish for a unique look. Concrete coatings can also be slip-resistant for patios near pools and ponds. You could add personal touches to your new concrete patio by incorporating colorful broken glass, seashells, marbles, or your family's handprints. 

If you live in a particularly wet area or stormwater runoff is a problem, consider a patio made of permeable pavers or pervious concrete that allows the water to drain through the surface. Other, more sustainable concrete options include Hempcrete and Dialysis Plastic Scrap Concrete.

Radiant & Rustic Decks

If you prefer the look of wood over concrete, you may be more interested in installing a deck. Hardwoods, including cedar, redwood, and bamboo are the most resistant to rot and warping and can often be found at construction reuse stores. Composite decking is a good alternative that looks just like wood but doesn't require the staining and maintenance that solid wood does. High-Density Polyethylene Resin (HDPE) is another environmentally friendly wood-look-alike.

Once you build your deck, you can add comfortable outdoor furniture, potted flowers, a pergola, screens, or even an outdoor heater.

Hot New Additions: Fire Pits & Outdoor Kitchens

Sunsets and summer evenings are simply too nice to cut short. So don't. Stay outside, grab another cool drink, and make your dinner alfresco. 

Built-in BBQs

Anyone can buy an inexpensive BBQ, but how many people do you know with a stylish, built-in grill? Building a permanent grilling space is much easier than you think. You might frame a space for your current grill to slide into and flank it with counters or upgrade to a professional BBQ specially made for built-in use.  If you plan to buy a new BBQ, pellet grills are the most environmentally friendly option. They cook extremely efficiently and are fueled by a renewable sawdust material. Solar grills are also great if you don't mind a longer cook time. 

Add a beer fridge, sink, and barstools for the ultimate outdoor chilling and grilling space. A well-built BBQ area will encourage you to eat at home more often, enjoying healthier meals while saving on gas and parking. Pro tip: Grilled vegetables are delicious!

Fully Functional Outdoor Kitchens

Kitchen appliances, including ovens and even dishwashers, are available for permanent outdoor installation. That means it's 100% possible to have a complete outdoor kitchen. You can also add cabinets and store a durable set of dishes for backyard dining and entertaining. 

Pizza Ovens

Who doesn't love pizza? Wood-fired pizza ovens are a super fun way to make a delicious meal. Impress your friends with a gourmet flatbread or set out the fixings for everyone to make their own. Pizza ovens are also great for cooking an ooey-gooey sandwich, a flakey filet of fish, or a tray of brownies. You'll save on indoor cooling costs by running the hot oven outdoors and will create a fun new family activity at the same time. If you have little ones, invite them to build their own meal and watch as the crust rises, and the cheese bubbles up.

Edible Gardens: Vegetable, Fruit, & Herb 

Edible gardens provide delicious homegrown food and excellent outdoor exercise for the whole family. And, working in the garden is a great way to get a little workout in! If you're thinking about starting an edible garden, you might consider incorporating flowers for larger crop yields and practice companion planting to support your plants proactively. For example, some crops, like corn, grow better if groundcover, like squash, shields their soil. Some flowers and herbs can even help keep bugs at bay.

Vegetable gardens and fruit orchards are excellent at encouraging picky eaters to eat outside the box. If you have kids, invite them to help plant and tend to your new garden and watch as they find a new excitement for peas, squash, and greens. You can even practice farm to table dinners by throwing your harvest right on the grill for a healthy, meal outdoors.

Rock & Drought Tolerant Gardens

Succulents, sage, salvia, rosemary, lavender, geranium, aloe, and artichoke are all extremely easy to grow for novice gardeners and desert areas. Nestle a few into a rock landscape for a maintenance-free garden.

Waste Not, Want Not: Compost Bins

A compost bin or pile is probably the simplest quick summer project ever. It's possible to build a compost bin with things you already have in under an hour and begin making your very own black gold. In the United States alone, we waste about 30-40 percent of our food supply each year. Food is thrown out when it goes bad, when we over-serve ourselves, when it's been left out too long, and even when it's simply not pretty enough to sell. Composting transforms all that food waste into glorious nutrient-rich soil that can be used on indoor plants, gardens, trees, and even on your lawn. 

Compost bins can be built out of scrap wood, extra fencing, and discarded wood pallets. But, you don't even need a bin at all! If you'd rather get right to it, just create a compost heap in the corner of your yard. Some people shy away from composting because they think it'll draw bugs or smell, but a well-maintained compost pile doesn't smell at all. The key is to add lots of brown to your pile, which is another great way to reduce your home waste. Cardboard, paper, junk mail, grass clippings, leaves, newspaper, and egg cartons are all excellent "brown" materials to add to your compost pile.

What Will You Do With Your Summer?

Summer is the perfect time to complete a little home improvement project. Maybe you'll improve your home's curb appeal with a little landscaping, add a patio to increase the time you spend outside or improve the environment for local wildlife.

We'd love to hear about your summer projects. What has been your most successful? What do you hope to accomplish this summer? Share below!