Perfect Patio: 5 Ways to Make Your Outdoors Awesome This Fall [CNET]

Your outdoor oasis is waiting for you, and with a few upgrades it could become your favorite spot at home.

It’s still hot outside right now, but fall’s on the horizon, meaning more time outdoors. Without the fear of sweltering heat, the opportunity to enjoy your patio is much greater. Whether it’s a cookout with the grill, or an evening sitting around a fire pitor a patio heater, there are good times to be had.

We’ve put together a few ways you can turn your patio into a relaxing or entertaining space, or both, for any season. The past few years have seen a rise in smart home devices that can help elevate your outdoor spaces, along with some options to add a little nature to your patio by growing your own herbs and vegetables for your weekend barbecues.

As you head outdoors, remember that a well cared for lawn can offer a great place to spend time. There are a lot of great lawn mowers on the market to help out, but if you really want to cut down on the time it takes to mow and get a great-looking lawn, you might want to consider a robot lawn mower.

1. Install a home security camera

Sure, a security camera doesn’t sound all that exciting, but neither does having your outdoor oasis tampered with. Setting up any one of our top outdoor smart cameras is a great way to keep tabs on what’s going on on your patio. Whether your budget is a bit more and you can put up a rock-solid option like the Arlo Pro 4 or you want to save a few bucks on a very capable Blink Outdoor 4, you can have peace of mind knowing that should something happen to your beloved outdoor space, you’ll have some way to track it down.

If you’re on a really tight budget, we have a list of the best cheap home security cameras to ensure you get a reliable option while saving money.

Another option to keep an eye on your patio is if you happen to have a door that faces your outdoor space, you could also consider a doorbell camera like the Nest Doorbell or the Arlo Video Doorbell. No matter what camera style or function you choose, adding a set of smart eyes to your outdoor space lets you monitor it with ease.

2. Set the mood with smart outdoor lighting

Lighting plays an important role when enjoying the indoors or outdoors. Being able to properly light your space is key. When you’re cooking and then it’s time to eat, you may want the lights a bit brighter and with a cooler tone. But when it gets a bit later and it’s time to relax and talk with friends and family, then something a bit warmer. If it’s time to turn up the music on your outdoor speakers and have a little party, then you’ll want your lights to be a bit livelier.

There are a lot of amazing smart lights to choose from, depending on the lighting fixtures you have available and the look you want. Of course, you can always opt for smart bulbs in your existing fixtures. But you can go beyond the boring smart bulb with some impressive outdoor string lights like the new Nanoleaf Smart Outdoor String Lights I just put up. Another option is these really great Govee Outdoor Ground Lights to illuminate a path.

If your patio space has a ceiling and is relatively protected from the elements, consider a smart fan. You would get the climate-enhancing benefits of a fan with smart lighting built in. Fan manufacturers like Hunter and Haiku make models that work with Amazon Alexa, Google Assistant and Apple HomeKit.

3. Schedule your devices with smart plugs

One of my favorite ways to make a dumb device or space a bit smarter is with a smart plug. However, keep in mind that if the outlet you want to add the smart plug to isn’t in a dry place, you’ll want to opt for one of these excellent outdoor smart plugs to be safe. Before I installed the Nanoleaf Smart Outdoor String Lights, I had some basic dumb string lights. While these lights looked nice, they had limitations.

One of the main drawbacks was that you can’t schedule the lights to turn on or off and when we went inside, we would forget to shut them off. We had to walk back out to the patio to take care of the lights. With a smart plug, you can manage the lights from your phone.

Our favorite models from TP-Link and WeMo work with multiple voice assistants, include scheduling, and are rated for water and dust resistance.

4. Turn up the volume with outdoor-friendly smart speakers

No outdoor space is complete without some great tunes — at least not for me. An easy way to bring all your new smart devices together on your patio is with a smart speaker. Not only does this mean you’ll have access to music on demand from the top streaming services, but you’ll also have voice control over things like your lights, timers and more.

If you’d like to take the Amazon Echo or Google Home speaker you already own outdoors, there are options to get a battery base for your Echo or Nest Mini. These handy devices are great for making your smart speaker, which is usually tethered to the wall, portable and allow you to access all the features you love.

If you want to go the route of a booming Bluetooth speaker, check out the Treblab HD Force, which is one of our favorite water-resistant portable speakers. If you still want to add Alexa to the mix, the Ultimate Ears Megablast is a portable, fully waterproof Wi-Fi and Bluetooth speaker with Amazon’s voice assistant built in.

5. Extend your Wi-Fi outdoors

Of course, to access any of the wonderful smart devices you’ve added to your patio, you’ll need one thing: good Wi-Fi. If your home’s signal doesn’t reach every corner of your outdoor living space, there are a few things you can try to extend your Wi-Fi outdoors.

Mesh Wi-Fi systems are one option. However, getting a Wi-Fi router that’s rated for outdoor use can be difficult. If you’re using the Deco mesh Wi-Fi system, you can pick up a TP-Link Deco Outdoor Mesh WiFi to get great internet coverage outdoors. But if you don’t have that system, there are other options. You can get some great Wi-Fi extenders, like the TP-Link N300 outdoor range extender, to push your signal out to your patio.

Bringing Wi-Fi beyond your home’s walls has never been easier. Extending your Wi-Fi to cover your patio and other outdoor spaces means you can enjoy some of the indoor comforts while you’re outside. Flexible lighting, security, audio, and more are all ways you can enhance your outdoor environment to take full advantage of everything your home has to offer, both inside and out.

To make the most of your time outside, make sure you know how to repel mosquitoes and how to grill like a pro. 

More outdoor tips and tricks

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• How to Clean Your Grill the Right Way
• Catch Unwanted Pests: 3 DIY Bug Traps for Mosquitos, Flies and More
• What Determines Hydrangea Bloom Color? An Expert Breaks Down the Science
• Your Fire Pit Is More Useful Than You Think