Maximizing the Space at Your Waterfront Property

You’ve worked hard to create a perfect space for yourself. The waterfront property you purchased is nothing short of gorgeous. How can you maximize your waterfront space so you can enjoy the water day after day? These tips can help. 

• Ensure a Continuous View of the Water: You came for the water, but it’s not going to do you very much good if you can’t see it. Often new waterfront property owners realize the trees and bushes planted behind their homes actually block their view of the water. To deal with this, you’ll want to work with a professional landscaping team to have some of them trimmed or even transplanted to help improve your view of the water. While you may need some of the trees to help prevent erosion, it is possible to work with what you have to make sure you can see the water from your home. 
• Build an Outdoor Living Space: Outdoor living spaces are becoming more popular than ever, especially by the water, and they’re easy to create, no matter what your waterfront home looks like. If you can, you may want to add sod or grass to the space to create a lawn space that will give you added access to the shore. Be careful, though, as chemicals and fertilizers used on landscaping can often be environmentally harmful, so select products that are safe for the ecosystem around your property. You’ll have to do some research, too, to understand how to water your grass and give it a strong root system despite its proximity to the water. You could also create a deck or patio right off your property to help design a better outdoor living area. Your goal here is essentially to build a room with all the comforts of home outside, so think about what you might want in that space. Outdoor kitchens are a wonderful idea, as is some dining space. Add in a fire pit for cool nights and maybe a hot tub, and you’ll have a relaxing extension of your home that gives you a continuous view of the shore. Don’t forget to decorate this space as much as you would the inside of your home. String lights, umbrellas, and even outdoor furniture is an absolute must to make this space absolutely perfect for entertaining or relaxing. 
• Create a Walkway to the Shore: Giving yourself easy access to the shore is one great way to make the most of your space. Create a walkway from your outdoor living space or your backdoor with brick pavers that lead you right to the shore. It can be a fairly big project, so think hard about how much distance you’d want to cover, the elevation changes along the way, and the condition of the soil to understand the best materials for the walkway. Often you can get fairly close to the water so you always have easy access. 
• Add a Great Dock: The single best thing you can do to ensure you have a great outdoor space at your waterfront property is to build a fantastic dock. Even if you think the water is too deep or the shoreline’s ecosystem is too sensitive for a dock, you can likely still have a dock to enjoy the space directly around the water. Thanks to floating dock systems, you can get easy water access with any kind of soil or ecosystem. It will mean a great place to launch boats, paddleboards, and kayaks or just to swim each day. Few upgrades will add value to your property quite like a dock. 

Before you do any of this, though, make sure that you understand who has the legal right of way to the land. It’s possible that adjacent property owners may have legal access to your shoreline through a designated path, so understand what you do and do not have access to and what you can do with that space so you don’t create a property dispute. Look, too, at local laws and regulations. If, for example, you decide to do some landscaping, you may need a number of different permits to comply with various regulations that protect the shoreline or natural habitats. 

To learn more about how we can help you maximize your waterfront space, contact us at 954-785-7557 today.