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Arbors & Pergolas
On a beautiful day, who doesn’t enjoy sitting outside with a book, a friend, or a cold drink? Or better yet, all three! When most homeowners think about the perfect outdoor space, they imagine patios, decks, porches, and pools. All wonderful landscaping features, of course, but we think two outdoor structures are sadly overlooked: arbors and pergolas.
Arbors
An arbor is a freestanding, open structure with two sides and one top supported by two or four posts. The sides are often made of latticework (a criss-crossed pattern framework), and the top is commonly arched. Flat-topped arbors are often mistaken for pergolas, which are traditionally flat. Unlike pergolas, arbors are quite small (typically just a few feet in width), and they are almost always tall enough for someone to walk beneath. Most of the time, people don’t linger under arbors (as they do under pergolas) – they simply walk through and continue on their way.
Pergolas
Pergolas, which are typically not freestanding, define outdoor spaces without blocking breezes and provide a moderate amount of shade. The amount of shade will shift throughout the day as the sun moves across the sky. Pergolas are composed of four or more columns or posts, which are topped with a roof-like structure covered in beams and open rafters. Sometimes homeowners will top the roof-like structure with a retractable canopy, which provides more coverage on sunny and rainy days. To further modernize this age-old structure, you might explore more contemporary designs and materials. However, you also can’t go wrong with a classic pergola.
On a beautiful day, who doesn’t enjoy sitting outside with a book, a friend, or a cold drink? Or better yet, all three! When most homeowners think about the perfect outdoor space, they imagine patios, decks, porches, and pools. All wonderful landscaping features, of course, but we think two outdoor structures are sadly overlooked: arbors and pergolas.
Arbors
An arbor is a freestanding, open structure with two sides and one top supported by two or four posts. The sides are often made of latticework (a criss-crossed pattern framework), and the top is commonly arched. Flat-topped arbors are often mistaken for pergolas, which are traditionally flat. Unlike pergolas, arbors are quite small (typically just a few feet in width), and they are almost always tall enough for someone to walk beneath. Most of the time, people don’t linger under arbors (as they do under pergolas) – they simply walk through and continue on their way.
Pergolas
Pergolas, which are typically not freestanding, define outdoor spaces without blocking breezes and provide a moderate amount of shade. The amount of shade will shift throughout the day as the sun moves across the sky. Pergolas are composed of four or more columns or posts, which are topped with a roof-like structure covered in beams and open rafters. Sometimes homeowners will top the roof-like structure with a retractable canopy, which provides more coverage on sunny and rainy days. To further modernize this age-old structure, you might explore more contemporary designs and materials. However, you also can’t go wrong with a classic pergola.