Many houses in towns and cities across Australia feature pergolas. These architectural structures do not merely enhance the aesthetic appeal of your outdoor living spaces. They offer a number of other benefits as well. For instance, you could use them for sitting outdoors in the shade. Or, if you like gardening and have hordes of plants in your yard, you could use the pergola to provide adequate support to your creepers, ivy and other climbing plants.Even if you don’t like plants all that much, you could use pergolas to enhance the visual appeal of your outdoor spaces. Builders adept in kitchen renovations could easily create pergolas that can become the focal point of your lawn or yard. For these reasons, many people add these structures to their properties.
Some people might feel that one pergola is identical to another. As such, they might not want their homes to appear as poor clones of others in the vicinity. This is especially so if those properties feature pergolas as well. However, pergolas come in various styles and designs. Therefore, once you have decided to build one on your property, you will need to consider the design and features of the pergola you require. Some of the most popular varieties of pergolas commonly seen in Australia include:
- Regular Pergolas: These pergolas typically feature wooden posts, beams and latticework. Latticework usually covers the top and the sides of these pergolas. You could stain or paint these pergolas to complement the overall look of your property. When you require shade and privacy, these pergolas are the best.
- Columned Pergolas: Get your builders to build four Roman-style or Corinthian-style columns. Fill these with concrete for providing additional strength. Use wooden beams for framing the top four sides. Similarly, build the top with smaller beams or trellises. You could consider leaving the top plain or adding canvas shade for additional cover.
- Arched Pergolas: Columned pergolas feature flat beams at the top. In contrast, arched pergolas feature arched tops. These arches provide a dome-like curve at the top of the pergola. Alfresco renovation specialists typically use steel, iron or redwood for building these arches. These kinds of pergolas are ideal for using at the entrance of your yard or even as pass-throughs.
- Japanese Pergolas: Many people feel that these pergolas are ideal only in case your outdoor areas are Asian in style and design. But, this is not true. You could use these even in regular lawns. Builders will typically use a redwood material and stain it red. Thereafter, they will place potted plants or roses on each side. This will help in anchoring the structure further and make it the centrepiece of the yard.