Tag Archives: Outdoor Environments

Outdoor Environments is the Grand Prize Winner for Deckorators Best Deck Contest

We were recently honored to have won the 2010 Deckorators Best Deck Contest. According to Deckorators®, a leading manufacturer of products to enhance your outdoor living space, “the amazingly versatile deck from Richard DeVuyst of Overland Park, Kansas separated itself from the rest by showcasing a depth of pre-planning and innovation to create a series of decks that integrate flawlessly.”

Our multi-level, composite wood deck featured a firepit, outdoor kitchen, fourseason room, ceramic tile bar rail, sunken hot tub and built in planters. Our stained wood railing with Deckorators balusters surrounded this award-winning deck. See the photos below of our entry.

Outdoor Environments' Award-Winning Deck

Outdoor Environments' Award-Winning Deck

Outdoor Environments' Award-Winning Deck

A special thank you to Deckorators for awarding us the Grand Prize in your Best Deck Contest!

For more information on Outdoor Environments please visit us online at Outdoorenvironments.com or give us a call at 913-897-2706.

Avoid Kitchen Fires this Thanksgiving

Holiday season is upon us and at Outdoor Environments we wanted to make sure that you will have not only a Happy Thanksgiving, but a safe one. With all the cooking being done on Thursday for your Thanksgiving Day feast we wanted to give you some tips on how to avoid indoor and outdoor kitchen fires.

When frying a turkey please make sure that you cook it outdoors for safety purposes. Below is a short clip from KCTV 5 featuring our friends at Overland Park Fire Station 1. For more tips please visit KCTV5.com.

Outdoor Environments is featured in Kansas City Homes and Gardens

Outdoor Environments’ own Dick DeVuyst was recently interviewed for the November issue of Kansas City Homes and Gardens’ article titled All Aglow. In it Dick talks about extending the outdoor living season well into fall by creating a fire element. Whether you decide to use a chiminea, outdoor fireplace, fire pit or outdoor kitchen a fire can help keep you warm on those cold Kansas City nights.

Dick tells KCH&G that “Fire and human beings are attracted to each other. It automatically gets people out of the house.” Let Outdoor Environments help you spend more time outdoors this holiday season by “adding the warm glow of a fire.”

For more information please give us a call at 913-897-2706.

Outdoor Environments

A special thank you to Veronica Toney with Kansas City Homes and Gardens.

The Benefits of a Four-Season Room by Outdoor Environments

With the end of Daylight Saving Time (DST) on Sunday, November 7th, 2010 at 2 a.m. comes two things– an extra hour of sleep and it gets dark a lot earlier. The first thing is a definite bonus, the second not so much. With the shorter daylight hours comes the desire to spend more time indoors. At Outdoor Environments we want to help you spend more time outdoors all year round. With our four-season additions we can help you enjoy nature from the comfort of an enclosed space. Whether you are looking to build a sunroom, conservatory or a screened in porch a four-season room can add value to your home.

Below are four-season rooms that we have created for our clients.

Outdoor Environments Four-Season Room

Outdoor Environments Four-Season Room

Outdoor Environments Four-Season Room

Outdoor Environments Four-Season Room

For more information on ways to extend your time outdoors this season sign up to receive our posts in your email. Just enter your email address to the right of this post.

4 Ways to Care for Your Outdoor Furniture

Extend the life of your outdoor furniture this season by properly caring for it. Below are 4 tips on how to care for your outdoor furniture.

  1. Properly clean your outdoor furniture several times each year. If you have wood outdoor furniture than you should buy specific cleaner so you don’t ruin the finish.
  2. Make sure you protect your outdoor furniture with waterproof covers during the winter months. The covers will not only protect your furniture from the elements, but will prevent sun damage.
  3. Re-stain, paint and seal your furniture when needed.
  4. Check all the hardware on the furniture to make sure there aren’t any loose bolts or missing pieces.

Like anything you own, the better care you take of an item, the longer it will last. We’d love to hear any tips you might have for caring for your outdoor furniture, please leave your comments below.

Time to Decorate Your Outdoors for Halloween

Halloween is ten days away and we wanted to help you get your outdoor living environment ready for the big night! From the sophisticated to the spooky the front entry is where all the action happens on Halloween night. See some of our favorite outdoor décor ideas to make your Halloween a memorable one.

From My Home Ideas

We love how the homeowners numbered the pumpkins to display their address.

From Better Homes and Gardens

Go ahead and hang a Halloween inspired wreath on your front door. This orange wreath from My Home Ideas is not only perfect for Halloween, but will look great for the rest of the fall season.

From My Home Ideas

Wheel out the pumpkins and gourds this Halloween.

From Better Homes and Gardens

This cutout of a witch stirring her witches’ brew will create some fright in your front yard.

From My Home Ideas

How do you decorate your outdoors for Halloween?

Time to Light Your Outdoor Fireplaces and Fire Pits

The weather here in Kansas has definitely turned colder. The evenings are producing temperatures right around 50 degrees so go ahead and light your outdoor fireplace or fire pit. Nothing is better than a warm, inviting fire on a crisp fall evening while you lounge beneath the stars.

If you are looking to purchase an outdoor fireplace or fire pit than let Outdoor Environments help find you the perfect match. We can take a look at your current outdoor living space and see which would work best for your home. There are many things to consider when purchasing an outdoor fire pit or fireplace. You’ll first need to check your local codes and laws regarding outdoor air quality. Some areas prohibit wood-burning fireplaces.

For more information call Outdoor Environments at 913-897-2706.

The Durability of Trex

At Outdoor Environments we work with all types of materials when building outdoor living spaces for our clients. One option that we offer our clients is Trex, the country’s largest manufacturer of wood-alternative decking, railing and fencing products. Trex products not only offer superior durability, but it helps eliminate plastic waste. Trex uses over a million pounds of recycled and reclaimed plastic and waste wood each year when creating their products. Trex alone recycles over 1.3 billion grocery bags annually.

If you decide to use Trex products for your outdoor environment you can relax in knowing that your deck won’t rot, warp or splinter. You can even rejoice in knowing that staining and painting the surface is no longer necessary, the product holds on to its great look.

Click here to see how we used Trex on this deck.

To learn more about Trex please give us a call at 913-897-2706.

Backyard Oasis: Part Two

We’ve talked a little about the upper deck in our post earlier this week and now we wanted to move downstairs (by way of the spiral staircase) to the lower level deck. The lower deck features a dry living space for the family to enjoy.

Outdoor Environments would love to create an outdoor living space just for you, give us a call at 913-897-2706 or online at Outdoorenvironments.com.