Your backyard should be a peaceful retreat, a space away from the daily grind where you can recharge and unwind. With three fences offering privacy, greenery to add life, and ample room for creativity, a backyard holds the potential to become your personal wellness sanctuary.
Unfortunately, many homeowners allow their backyards to become overgrown or underutilized. In this guide, we’ll explore how to transform your outdoor space into the tranquil escape it was always meant to be. From minimalist design ideas to creating the perfect hot tub setup, here are some simple steps to cultivate serenity in your backyard.
Remember, there’s no need to do everything at once. Start with small, intentional improvements, and gradually build your wellness haven over time.
From Zen Gardens to Lush Woodlands: Choose a Calming Design Theme
Begin by selecting a design theme that promotes relaxation. This theme will guide your décor choices, helping you create a space that reflects your personal taste and lifestyle.
Some design themes to consider are:
- Zen Garden: The classic example of a tranquil space, Zen Gardens can typically feature a raked sandy area hedged by bonsai trees, naturally imperfect borders, and water features.
- Minimalist Scandinavian: They say a clear space leads to clear thoughts. In this design theme, clean lines of concrete that merge into natural wilderness, breaking down the barriers between indoor and outdoor space to create a deeper connection with nature.
- Lush Woodland Cabin: This is a rustic, frozen-in-time take on the backyard wellness area that emphasizes materials like reclaimed wood and cast iron.
- Coastal Retreat: If you feel most relaxed on seaside vacations, bring the seaside to your backyard with driftwood elements, sandy colors, succulents, and bubbling water features that evoke the ocean waves.
Alternatively, you can go free-form and choose the structures and design elements “a la carte” to create a wholly personalized wellness space.
Zone Your Space for Privacy, Activities and Relaxation
Whichever design theme you choose (or don’t choose), it’s important to zone the space. It’s tough to incorporate a wellness area into an open-concept backyard that sustains other activities (like kids playing or partners lawnmowing) for the obvious reason: It just won’t feel private. It won’t feel like it’s your space.
Luckily, zoning a space isn’t too challenging. Use design elements like privacy screens, pergolas, or trellises with climbing plants to create a sectioned-off feel. Similarly, you can use natural elements like trees or shrubs to zone the space.
Incorporate a Therapeutic Hot Tub
You know that feeling of stepping into a hot tub, when everything seems right in the world? That’s no accident; hot tubs carry research-backed health and wellness benefits, both psychologically and physiologically. They can lower your cortisol levels (i.e., the stress hormone), raise endorphins (i.e., the “feel good” hormones), relax muscles, soothe blood pressure… the list goes on. For those reasons, hot tubs are a must-have installation in any backyard wellness sanctuary.
Consider making it the centerpiece of the space, building design elements, seating areas, yoga spaces, etc., around the tub. You can integrate the tub within your existing design scheme by custom-creating a hot tub cover at The Cover Guy that fits your color palette and preferred tub shape.
Regularly cleaning and replacing the spa filter keeps water crystal clear, reduces chemical use, and extends the life of your pump and heater. Choose the correct filter type for your model and soaking habits, and schedule quick monthly rinses with periodic replacements to maintain flow and hygiene, especially if you enjoy aromatherapy additives. Building this maintenance routine into your backyard plan preserves that day-one, spa-grade soak.
Soften the Space with Soothing Lighting
Next, let there be light – soft, soothing light, to be exact. We spend increasing amounts of time staring into artificial blue lights from our phones or computers, which raise our alertness levels to sometimes unsustainable levels. Therefore, your wellness sanctuary should seek to counterbalance that with lights lower on the Kelvin scale (those warm, yellowish-amber hues that you find in salt cave spas, for example).
Remember, lighting is also functional, so choose a variety of light types. String lights are wonderful for bathing the space in even light. Solar-powered lanterns offer a sustainable way to key areas in the space. And path lights help you (and your guests) find your way during those late-night winter dips in the outdoor spa.
Satisfying the Other Senses: Consider an Outdoor Kitchen and Aromatherapy Setup
With a winning design, soft light, and soothing hot tub, we have sight and feel taken care of. However, wellness is a holistic sensory experience.
To appeal to the olfactory senses, establish an aromatherapy setup, which has been shown to improve relaxation and stress relief. You can add aromatherapy crystals, liquids, and balms directly to the hot tub, which acts as a diffuser for the variety of beneficial scents. Typically, quality hot tub suppliers will also sell aromatherapy kits.
Next, to make your space more inclusive for family, partners, and guests, consider adding a modest kitchen. While food might not be the first thing one imagines when one thinks of a wellness space, it can play a critical role in overall well-being. Building a nearby cooking space or fridge stocked with healthy drinks and snacks helps reinforce the idea that this is a space built around holistic health.
Making It You: Incorporate Meaningful Décor for Personal Connection
Lastly, make it your own. Remember, this is your wellness sanctuary. Not one from the pages of a design magazine. It should hold personal significance, which will create a deeper connection between you and this relaxing space.
If you have a favorite art style, now’s the time to show it off. If you have an abiding interest or passion – whether it’s specific interests like reading or meditating, or significant things like family and culture – express those personal details in your design choices.
As mentioned in the introduction, don’t push yourself to create this space overnight. Start with a functional, relaxing element like the hot tub. After a while, section off some backyard space around it with zoning elements. Next, reinforce a design theme in this zoned space with furniture, water features, décor items, etc. Tweak your sanctuary with lights, aromatherapy, and personally significant items.
Over time, you will create a place where time stands still, a place removed from all the worries and obligations beyond its walls.
