If you have an outdoor deck, back porch or patio, you can add hours of enjoyment to your outdoor space by adding a pergola. Ideas for pergola design and style can be found everywhere, too - from your local neighborhood to home and garden sources online.
If you’re interested in some ideas for adding or improving a pergola, here are some options to inspire you:
A pergola is one of the best ways to add both shade and privacy to your outdoor space. However, depending on the structure itself, there are plenty of ways to go about it. For instance, canvas and other sturdy cloth varieties have always been great choices for a pergola’s roof and walls.
Another option is to hang screens made of natural materials like bamboo. Roll-up screens are convenient for raising and lowering to follow the angle of the sun, and can also shield against the wind. Other pergola decorating ideas like string lights and outdoor dining furniture can benefit from the extra shade and protection, no matter what style you choose.
A wooden pergola is the classic choice for outdoor spaces, but alternatives to wood have gradually grown in popularity. Metal options like a steel pergola are a chic alternative that can create a more industrial vibe to your patio space.
A steel pergola makes a bold and unique statement in your yard, and also provides you with a long-lasting outdoor feature impervious to most forms of environmental damage.
Other options for wood alternatives include vinyl, fiberglass and other galvanized metal.
Gardens and pergola design often go together. One beautiful way to create shade and dimension to your outdoor space is to encourage trailing and climbing vines to cover a natural wood pergola. A pergola creates a stable outdoor structure for plants to thrive upon, and depending on your climate, you have myriad options to choose from.
You can even grow some vegetables using your pergola as a support. Plants like squash, melons and cucumbers all grow best when given a structure to climb, and their greenery helps create natural shade and privacy.
I'm John Mahan, Sales Associate with William Raveis Real Estate, Harwich Port Office.
Throughout his childhood, John Mahan spent summers on Cape Cod at his parents’ home in Dennis Port. His intro to the Cape was, as he puts it, when his parents “carried me down the stairs at Sea Street Beach when I was a week old.” With a lifelong connection to Cape Cod, it seemed only natural for John and his wife, Mary, to move to Harwich – where they still reside – with their two young children in 1996.
Prior to moving to Cape Cod, John lived in the Worcester-Auburn area where he worked for Mass Electric for 10 years and was a member of the International Brotherhood of Utility Workers. When John and his family moved to the Cape, he worked at NSTAR for six years.
John began his career in real estate in 2002 when he joined Team Waystack Realty in Harwich Port. He has been a consistent top producing realtor in the Harwich area for the past 20 years. John’s approachable demeanor, combined with an integral understanding of the Cape Cod residential real estate market, have allowed him to build trusting, long-term relationships with his clients – both sellers and buyers.
