Make a research trip to a home improvement store. RELATED LINKS Inspiring Outdoor Rooms from HGTV Dream Homes Outdoor Design Ideas

When the weather turns warm and sunny, people naturally gravitate to the outdoors, enjoying parties and cookouts on the patio or just relaxing for hours in the back yard. To make the most of the outdoors, you'll want to spend some time designing a pleasant and beautiful space where your family and friends can feel comfortable and welcome.

Melissa Birdsong is Director of Trend and Design for Lowe's Companies Inc. Here she offers a guide to help you plan your outdoor living space:

• Consider how you'll use the space.
  Before you think about the projects you want to take on, consider the way you want to live in the space. The design process always begins with ideation and visualization. Do you want a space that's more of a patio, or more of a deck? How much space will be devoted to grass and plantings?
  
• Understand your entertaining style.
  How many people will you have at a typical event, like a party or barbecue? How often do you plan on entertaining? You'll need to answer these questions before you start building your outdoor space.
  
• Think about cooking, serving, and eating.
  Think about what kinds of outdoor cooking equipment you will need, and what kinds of seating and serving areas you want to create.
  
• Extend your living space.
  The current trend in outdoor spaces is to extend the indoor living spaces to the outside of the house. Consider how your spaces flow from the indoors to the outdoors, and try to create a natural, comfortable balance.
  
• Do some homework.
  Make a trip to a home improvement store to do some research. You'll likely come away with plenty of ideas about yard, patio and deck design, construction materials, outdoor furniture, and accessories.
  
• Define your project.
  Once you've determined usage, define your project. Survey your space and make a list of what you'll need to create your outdoor living area.
  
• Consider aesthetics.
  And last but not least, be respectful of the architectural style of your home and build your outdoor space with design details that will complement.