Ready, Set, Go! For A New Season of Outdoor Florida Living
It’s springtime and Mother Nature is ringing a giant alarm clock. Let’s get outside! Fortunately for Florida residents, that’s pretty much year-round, but sometimes we can find ourselves stuck in occasional ruts. So, let’s gear up our outdoor living areas for a new season.
Renewal is all around us, and we at ICI Homes promise to avoid the term “spring cleaning.” See, we only said it once. Instead, we offer a helpful checklist for sprucing up your exterior spaces. Ready? Get set, and go for a new season of outdoor Florida living.
Take inventory
We salute you, neat freaks! That’s probably not most of us, right? Even if you and your household use your outdoor living spaces throughout the year, and are careful to pick up after yourselves, those areas still can require more thorough seasonal attention.
Maybe the gas grill in your summer kitchen is, well, yucky. The lanai needs a good hose down. Your ceiling-fan blades might be moving as much dust as air. Simply note it all, prioritize it, and get family members into the act. You might be able to knock it all out in one day or a weekend.
Do the ‘big’ stuff first
Pick that chore everyone dreads and vanquish it right off the bat.
No one really wants to clean the swimming pool, especially if it’s been dormant for a couple months. However, unless you employ a pool service, or installed the latest cleaning technology and equipment and can flip a switch, guess what?
It’s the same for pressure-washing the pool deck, the exterior of your house, or scouring pesky mold and mildew from lounge chairs. Just get it done.
Don’t overlook the smaller stuff
It’s easy to get caught up in a big outdoor cleaning project, smell the fresh scents afterward, see the shiny, glistening surfaces, and think you’re done.
You’re closer, but probably not there. What can go unnoticed in exterior corners and crevices? Cobwebs (ugh, we know).
What can use a seasonal inspection? Ground-level exterior light fixtures that safely illuminate paths, gates and doorways. What can use replenishment and pruning? Shrubs, flower beds or pots, and decorative landscaping near your outdoor living spaces. Trim and replace if necessary. Apply new mulch.
Start over
You’re usually in one of two camps here. You and your household haven’t used your Florida outdoor living spaces that much and would like to start. Or, you’re restless with what may be a tired or outgrown space and want to dynamite it.
Spoiler Alert: Don’t do the latter!
Use spring as your inspiration to brainstorm and redesign your space. Tap a recommended professional landscape designer for a consultation, or figure it out on your own. There’s no end to online resources, books, magazines and home improvement stores to browse. Start small — perhaps with new outdoor furniture — and add other elements as you go.
