As winter encroaches upon us, many people resign themselves to the fact that this means they have to pack up all their outdoor furniture until spring dawns. Pergolas especially are an outdoor fixture that people assume can only be used during the warmer months. While it’s understandable why one would think that – pergolas have less covering than gazebos, you can winterize your pergola. 

When you winterize your pergola, you provide a cozy refuge in your yard, an additional place for people to gather, and a way to enjoy the outdoors in more comfort. Here are some of the things that you can do in order to winterize your pergola. 

Add A Heat Source 

Winters are cold, but that doesn’t mean your pergola has to be too. Adding a heat source to your pergola will make it more cozy and comfortable and encourage usage. There’s nothing quite like bundling up in the cold and gathering around a source of heat that says winter bonding and cozy chatter. You may add a patio heater or have a firepit installed. These are beneficial not just to winterize your pergola, but in other seasons too. Summer or fall s’mores, anyone?

Use Patio Furniture That Can Take Winter Weather

Many people use patio furniture that they either have to cover up or put into storage come winter to preserve it and prevent damages. Investing in patio furniture that can withstand the weather is an excellent way to winterize your pergola and ensure optimal usage of your investment. 

Having patio furniture that you don’t need to worry about getting ruined by the rain or snow or that won’t leave puddles for you to sit on and get your clothes all wet will make your pergola more usable and comfortable. Plus, if you have a heat source in your pergola, it can make your furniture warmer and more comfortable too.

Consider Your Pergola’s Roof Type

Pergolas come in a range of roof options. Some offer more shade and coverage than others. Some have lattice roofs that ventilate. When you winterize your pergola, you’ll want to account for the kind of roof your pergola has. Perhaps you’ll add a cover to it, to help shield it from the snow and rain. Your local expert can advise you on how to optimize your pergola for winter, based on the kind of roof that it has.

Cover Outdoor Products

The last thing that you want is for products that aren’t made to withstand the elements to be damaged. If you can’t bring them inside or put them into storage, when you winterize your pergola, you’ll want to ensure that you cover any outdoor products that could be damaged by winter weather. If you have a Traeger grill, you don’t want the metal to rust. Covering such items will keep them in good condition and help them to last longer.

Clean It

Keeping your pergola clean is an excellent way to keep it in good shape, regardless of the season. But cleaning it before and during the winter will prevent potential damages from snow, as well as keep the area clear of debris and fallen leaves. If your pergola is attached to your home, then snowbuild can cause it to collapse. Cleaning the snow off of your pergola will help it stay strong.

Make It Cozy

So, you’ve potentially added a heating source, you’ve potentially got furniture that can take the weather, so another way to winterize your pergola is to make it more cozy through adding fluffy blankets and throw pillows that people can curl up with or against. You may consider stringing up some fairy lights to enhance a homey atmosphere. Another thing that you can do to enhance the comfort of your pergola is to add a rug. 

Add Covers

We mentioned how you should consider the roof type of your pergola when winterizing it. Another way you can protect its interior from the elements is through adding covers, like outdoor blinds or shades, to keep the cold out and the warmth in.

Do You Need Advice On How To Winterize Your Pergola?

Kool Breeze offers a range of pergolas to best suit your personal tastes and your needs. We take pride in the quality of our products and of our services. When you work with Kool Breeze, you’ll know that you are working with experts that you can trust. We’re happy to help you find the pergola of your dreams, as well as provide any additional information you may need on how to winterize your pergola. For any questions, please contact us at Kool Breeze today!

Enclosed rooms come with many benefits all year round, and winter is no exception. When you add an enclosed room to your home, you’ll be able to enjoy the outside no matter the weather, and create a private alcove for whatever you wish your room to be. Here is what you need to know about how you can benefit from an enclosed room this winter.

Increased Usable Space

During the winter months, parts of your house may become less than ideal to use due to the plummeting temperatures and snowfall. If you want to host a party, you may find yourself restricted to the interior of your home, since unless you have an enclosed porch, your porch likely won’t be the best gathering space, and with all the snow and wet, people likely wouldn’t want to mingle outside anyway. 

An enclosed room provides an area for you to host parties and other such gatherings that both have the beauty and sense of being outside while maintaining the comfort of being inside. Adding these enclosed spaces adds additional space to utilize all year round, so that when other parts of your home may not be ideal, you can turn to your enclosed space for the job.

The Beauty Of The Outdoors Inside

You may find yourself wishing you could just sit outside with a book and a mug of steaming hot chocolate but not want to have to bundle up or worry about your book getting wet from the snow. Similarly, maybe you want to stretch, or workout, or visit, or any number of activities outside, but the temperature and weather conditions are a deterrent. 

Enclosed rooms provide that outdoors feel with the comfort of your HVAC system and furniture while also protecting from the elements. You can go to your enclosed room to feel close to nature on days where it just isn’t pleasant to be outside, no matter if it is because of snowfall, wind, cold, or whatever else. Enclosures like this will allow for you to feel as though you are closer to nature while also keeping you dry and warm and overall more comfortable. 

Increased Privacy

Usually when we go outside, it’s with the knowledge that we’re losing a great deal of our privacy that comes from being within closed walls people can neither see nor hear easily through. Understandably, there are many instances in which we want to maintain privacy outside. Perhaps you wish to discuss deep or intimate matters or simply don’t want to be overheard, but you don’t want to be confined to the recesses of your home.

Enclosed rooms allow for that outdoor feel with privacy you can seldom find in your backyard or around the outside of your house. For additional privacy, you can install curtains or blinds to your room, so that you can also visually close yourself off, should you wish it.

UV Protection

Many people assume that they need only worry about UV rays during the hot summer months, but the truth is that harmful UV rays are present all year round, no matter the season. In the winter, the days may be shorter, but that doesn’t mean UV rays go away. They can also reflect off of the snow, into your eyes or into your home, causing furniture to fade.

When you choose a glass enclosure, you can choose glass that will protect from those harmful UV rays. Through the glass’s protection, you can read or craft or whatever else freely, without fear of harsh glares, and you don’t have to worry about your furniture fading, either.

Enjoy The Natural Light

Seasonal depression is a beast. With less sunlight, many people find their moods dropping. Enclosures are a way for you to enjoy what natural light you can get from the comfort of your home. With how much light they let in, these rooms are ideal for soaking in natural light and that precious vitamin D while you can get it. 

Natural light not only helps to boost your mood, but is also easier on your eyes than artificial light. This makes it so that this spaces are better for hobbies and visiting than other areas of your house, since they allow so much natural light in. 

Do You Want To Add An Enclosed Room?

Kool Breeze is well aware of the many benefits associated with enclosed spaces, which is why we offer multiple types of enclosed rooms, so that you can choose the best option for you. Since these enclosures are so beneficial, they increase the value of your home too. If you would like to learn more or if you have any questions, please feel free to contact us at Kool Breeze today!

While we may tend to use our patios more in the warmer months, as the weather turns cooler, so too can our patio usage drop. If it’s getting colder, why use your patio? The cooler months, especially autumn can actually lend themselves quite wonderfully to spending time out on your patio. Here are some ways you can make your patio more inviting in the cooler months and enjoy it all year round. 

Patio Furniture

Patio furniture tends to be neglected by homeowners. With how it is outside, people tend to opt for cheap rather than quality. However, that very fact makes people less likely to use their patios, because cheap furniture falls around easier, especially with how it’s exposed to the elements. Investing in high-quality patio furniture ensures that you have furniture that you will actually use outside and that can withstand being outside. 

No one wants to be at a barbeque or outdoor gathering with nowhere to sit. Having good quality patio furniture makes your patio instantly more welcoming, through creating a gathering area that encourages people to sit and talk and spend time with each other in the crisp fall air with the beautiful changing leaves around. 

If you have poor quality furniture, your patio won’t be as inviting or lend itself as well to being a gathering space. High quality furniture is an investment that’s worth it, both in terms of longevity and durability and in how it encourages usage of your patio. 

Grill

Summer isn’t the only ideal time for a barbeque! Fall also lends itself well to gathering around a grill and enjoying drinks and various barbequed delights like marinated chicken breasts and vegetable kebabs and the like. Many people also like to use their grills to make s’mores with, and chilly fall nights create the perfect ambiance for making smores with friends and family on your patio. Traeger grills offer a sensational wood-fired flavor to your dishes, meaning your smores will have a special touch to them. 

Decorate Your Awning 

Awnings are a decoration in and of themselves, in a way, creating a more refined way of shelter for your porch. Depending on the type of awning you have, you can string fairy lights across them and hang up garlands of fall leaves and the like to make a cozy, intimate atmosphere. 

Decorate – In General!

With Halloween just around the corner, you may decide to put jack-o-lanterns around your patio or other fun themed decor, such as throw pillows and candles and the like. You can also switch this out through the seasons, so that your patio is just as festive as the rest of your home. You can put out themed blankets, or just blankets in general, to encourage people to cozy up outside and have something to snuggle with. 

Fire Pit

Adding a fire pit to your yard is another way to encourage usage of your patio. Fire pits shouldn’t be installed on the patio itself, by any means, as they can melt your awning and cause soot buildup, among other problems. But having one in your backyard – provided it won’t go against any building codes and the like – is a lovely way to get people outside. People can gather around the fire pit, or if they want more distance from it, they can sit on the patio and listen to the crackling embers. 

Insulated Patio Covers

An insulated patio cover helps make your patio warmer and more inviting in the cooler months in a more covert way. They can reduce the sound of rain and hail, as well as protect against them. They can have the look and feel of wood without the maintenance associated with it. They increase the strength of your patio and as the name suggests, offer insulation against the weather. Ergo, insulated patio covers make your patio cozier and a drier place to be, especially during the colder months which are prone to rain and snow. 

Do You Have Patio Questions?

Here at Kool Breeze, we offer patio furniture, Traeger grills, insulated patio covers and more. We want to help you make your patio as inviting and comfortable as possible. If you’re considering having work done to your patio, contact us at Kool Breeze today! We’ll help you find out what will work best for you.