Pergolas can easily be installed in outdoor spaces like backyards. If you own a house with at least a decent-sized backyard, you may want to consider one. Installing a pergola will give you a space where you can spend time with family members and friends.
If you are in a family with kids, then a pergola might appeal even more. It is a sturdy structure in the backyard that they might enjoy spending time in. This way, you know they’re safe in the backyard rather than wandering around the neighborhood.
You might look into installing an aluminum pergola. You might also get one that’s made primarily out of wood, pressure-treated wood, vinyl, and other materials.
No matter what kind you get, though, if you have kids, you will want one that is the ideal design for them. Let’s talk about what that might look like right now.
You Want One That’s a Reasonable Size
First, you will want to consider what size pergola to get. If you have multiple children, and if they also like to invite their friends from school or the neighborhood over, then you want one large enough to accommodate several individuals at the same time.
Think about a pergola that can fit a table and five or six chairs. Your kids or teenagers will be able to sit there and watch TV, play a card game, play video games, or whatever else interests them.
The pergola should be big enough where a group of youngsters can do all of those things with no issues. Look at your backyard and decide what prefabricated pergola will fit in the space nicely. Of course, you can always get a custom-built one, but those typically cost more.
A Louvered Pergola Often Makes Sense
A louvered pergola is one that has a roof you can maneuver into position or remove relatively easily. You can either get a pergola with an automatic louvered roof that you press a button to activate, or else you can get one that you move into position by hand. The one with an electric motor will cost more, so if you only have a limited amount of money for this addition to your home, keep that in mind.
Louvered pergolas are nice for families with kids because if it’s very hot, you can activate the roof so that it acts as a way of blocking the sun. In the middle of summer, you will be glad your pergola has this feature. You may get a lot of use out of it if you live in the Southwest or on the West Coast where it’s hot for most of the year.
Do You Have Younger Children?
The age of the children you have will often come into play when you’re thinking about the kind of pergola to install. Maybe you have kids who are still pretty young.
If so, you will likely want a pergola where you can create a kid-friendly play area. Your pergola might be set up to accommodate a very small pool, a swing set, or a sandbox. Make sure the dimensions work with any of those that you plan to install.
Most pergolas come with upright posts. You can set up a painting board or a chalkboard that attaches to one of them. That can be a way for your kids to be creative if it seems like they have artistic skills that you would like to nurture.
You may also want to add some soft flooring material at the pergola’s base. That will keep your younger children from scraping their knees or otherwise injuring themselves if they fall.
Decor and Lighting Elements
You should also consider some additional lighting and decor elements that you think will make the pergola a more enjoyable space for some of the activities that you plan to engage in. You want the pergola to feel like an extension of the warm, friendly space that you have inside the house.
You might do that by installing some lights on strings. Candles that you put in sconces or lanterns that you hang may also work. You might also hang some art prints to make the pergola seem more welcoming if you have kids who like visually-oriented crafts.
You Want to Be Able to Change What’s In the Pergola as Your Kids Grow
Apart from the size and the material, you might also want to focus on a pergola setup that you can change relatively easily as your kids grow up. While you may start with a play area for toddlers, eventually, you might want to switch things up. In ten years, you may want a play space for the card games or video games we mentioned earlier.
To have this element of versatility, you are probably going to want to install features within the pergola that you can remove without too much trouble. While the structure of the pergola itself will remain there year after year, being able to change the decor and some of what is contained inside is what will make the pergola the best outdoor addition a family might want.
By the time your kids are ready to leave the house to go to college or strike out on their own, you will probably want to get rid of the pergola features that you once had. You may want to convert it to a place that is more adult-centric.
For instance, once your kids have gone, you can turn the inside of the pergola into a cooking space where you can make wood-fire pizzas or grill some burgers. You might install a wet bar and start entertaining your adult friends there.
If your kids return with some grandkids for you at some point, you can always turn the pergola back into a more child-centric space again. Being able to switch up this structure’s purpose is what will likely make it the most valuable.
Multiple generations can enjoy your pergola and all the many joys that it brings.
