Outdoor Design Tips

5 foolproof tips to beautify an outdoor living space in North Texas

Some well-placed lights and plants and a patterned rug help make this patio feel like an additional living room.

Photo by Devin Miller

Transforming backyards into additional living spaces is a growing trend in North Texas. Even the hottest summer day can turn into a pleasant evening, and the other three seasons are mild, which means your patio is a prime perch for relaxing or entertaining friends.

Upgrading outdoor living spaces can range in investment. A higher-end renovation and finish-out could include using a professional designer and contractor to implement adding structures like cabanas, swimming pools, built-in kitchens and covered patios. A DIY project could include updates to existing structures and surfaces that homeowners can do themselves.

We talked to Nicole Arnold, who owns a full-service Dallas interior design firm, Nicole Arnold Interiors. She’s worked with many homeowners to create cool, comfortable outdoor living spaces that work with the rest of their home’s design.

“In a lot of cases, these outdoor retreats are visible from a main living area inside your home; therefore, make sure they look on par with the rest of your home, and, ideally, a natural extension of your interior style,” Arnold says. “Of course there’s a wide spectrum of upgrades and accouterments available to personalize your particular space, and make it aesthetically pleasing, comfortable and functional.”

These are Arnold’s top five tips for accentuating an outdoor living space, regardless of scope or budget.

1. What goes outside should belong outside
Ensure what is placed outside is sustainable, particularly furnishings. Teak, cast aluminum or weather-rated wicker (actually a PVC product) hold up best. Cushions should be of Sunbrella or other outdoor-rated fabrics to prevent fading and mildew. Furniture covers are always a good idea, even when you have a covered porch. They can keep critters away as well as protect against our occasional sideways rainstorms.

2. Make it bright
Adequate lighting is imperative to fully enjoy evening functions. Illuminate with overhead lighting such as recessed cans in a solid ceiling or string lights in an open ceiling, as well as indirect light from outdoor-rated lamps on end tables. Lit candles can be beautiful, and a glass hurricane can help keep them that way in the breeze.

3. Don’t forget the rug
A foundational piece in any outdoor setting is a rug, and today they are easy to find in an array of options. Brightly colored floral or geometric prints enliven neutral-colored furniture, while natural-looking sisal designs add a quiet softness to a more organic and neutral theme. Ensure that a good outdoor rug pad is used to prevent mildew. If mildew does occur, a gentle bleach and water solution can usually be used safely to remove discoloration.

4. Comfort is key
Staying cool can be a challenge in our Texas heat, so things like outdoor water misters around a patio ceiling perimeter or ceiling fans can help tremendously. Depending on the direction your patio faces, there will be a time of the day (or sometimes two) that the sun will bear down, preventing you from enjoying your space. Some great solutions for that are outdoor curtains that can be drawn closed (also adding a layer of softness or a pop of color to your living area), woven wood shades or a mesh-style shade. Any of these solutions can be manual for a smaller budget or automated for more convenient use.

5. Plants add color and texture
Landscaping can be that final touch on your outdoor retreat’s design. Container plants, trees and flower beds add color and texture and soften the hard nature of stone patios, brick walls or wooden structures. Succulents in containers on a tabletop make great heat-tolerant additions, and the experts at your local nursery can tell you which other foliage will work best in your particular exposure.

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A version of this story originally was published on Candy’s Dirt.

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In the spotlight

Dallas' most famous Christmas-light home to shine on new Hallmark show

Facebook/BurkmanHolidayHome

The famous Burkman Holiday Home of Frisco is making its Hallmark TV debut.

A family Christmas light display that's so over the top, it looks like a Hallmark movie set is about to get its close-up on the famous holiday-entertainment network: The Burkman Holiday Home of Friscowill appear on the first episode of a new series called Ready, Set, Glow!, premiering on the Hallmark+ streaming service Thursday, December 12.

On the show, host Wes Brown will meet four families "whose Christmas decorations have been making spirits bright for generations," says the series' website. "The only thing better than these displays are the heartwarming stories behind them."

The Burkman family - husband-and-wife Corey and Jen, adult sons Alex and Jack, and Jen's dad, Eugene Skalskyj (known as "Sanpa") - have been lighting up their Frisco home at 3809 Hazelhurst Dr. for nearly a decade. Their "extreme" display - 115,000 lights and counting - attracts thousands of visitors from North Texas and beyond each year. It also raises money for a scholarship fund, supports families in need, and donates to the nonprofit The LiyanaStrong Foundation.

The Burkmans are no strangers to the TV spotlight. In 2021, they competed on ABC's holiday decorating show The Great Christmas Light Fight and appeared on Live with Kelly and Ryan.

Ready, Set, Glow! isn't a competition, but an unscripted series that goes "behind the lights," Brown says. The show will stream on Hallmark's new membership-based streaming platform, Hallmark+ (access a free trial here).

Wes Brown, Ready Set Glow, Hallmark+ Wes Brown, host of the new Hallmark+ show Ready, Set, Glow!Photo courtesy of Hallmark+

We chatted with Jen Burkman recently about the family's experience on Ready, Set, Glow!, how filming compared to The Great Christmas Light Fight, and what's new with their lights display this year.

CultureMap: How did you get picked to be on this new Hallmark show?
Jen Burkman: I received an email from the production company at Hallmark. They found us through our Facebook page, and by Googling large light displays. We come up as one of the top displays in the country. It’s exciting because it’s a brand new show and we are on the very first episode. We’re very honored to be selected for that.

CM: What is the story will they tell on the show?
JB: They will have three different things that they do in each episode. They will showcase homes with large displays that have a cause behind it, neighborhoods that go extremely far out for decorating, in towns that resemble a Hallmark Christmas town. So it is not a competition. This was something that really drew us towards it. They wanted to know more about our backstory, why we do what we do, and what it means to the community. That encompassed everything that we are about. (The Burkmans started their holiday displays when son Alex, who was autistic, developed a love of lights.)

CM: When was filming ... did you have to keep it a secret?
JB: The filming was in the middle of December 2023. We did have to keep it secret on social media. However, they did allow us to reach out to our neighborhood. So it’s even more special to us that we got to personally invite our neighbors to be a part of the TV show with us. The majority of the filming was just our family, but there are going to be elements of our neighborhood and our neighbors cheering us on.

Burkman Holiday Home Frisco Jen Burkman's father is known as "San-pa." Photo courtesy of Burkman family

CM: What was the actual filming like?
JB: We had a great time! We had the production company from Glass Entertainment with producer Matt Carter, who was amazing. He brought along about 10 people from his production company - light and sound guys, drone operators, boom operators, sound eliminators. There was so much equipment.

We did some interviews inside our home, so you’ll get to see some of our overly decorated inside of our house, and obviously a ton of footage outside, as well. It took us about 15 hours to film, for probably 15 to 20 minutes of airtime. We had our immediate family and probably 50 people from our neighborhood. We have the most incredible neighbors who are so supportive of our display so it honestly meant the world to us that they were involved.

CM: How did filming this show compare to your experience on The Great Christmas Light Fight?
JB: It was totally a different experience. The Great Christmas Light Fight was an honor to be selected; over 200 people auditioned and only 24 of us were selected. So even though we didn’t win our episode, it was a dream come true to even compete on that scale. But it was a competition, so I think we felt more stressed out because we really wanted to win. We also filmed Light Fight in 2020. So all the Covid protocols were in place, we had to get tested every single day, and we couldn’t have a crowd.

Hallmark was an absolutely different experience. We felt relaxed, and we had so much fun knowing that we weren’t competing against other families. We just got to share our story and our love for the holidays. And to be able to celebrate our neighbors and our nonprofit foundation was pretty outstanding.

CM: Any fun behind-the-scenes stories to tell?
JB: Within a half a day, we felt like we had known the crew our entire lives. By 11 o’clock at night, we were still doing interviews in our living room, and our family and the film crew were just slap happy. We were snort-laughing at ourselves for saying things incorrectly and practically falling asleep in our chairs. One thing that totally made us laugh, because it never happens, in the middle of filming with a huge crowd in our front yard, this rabbit came across the driveway and just sat in the display, looking at everybody, as if it was a lawn figurine. That rabbit may have its own spotlight on the show. We will see.

Burkman Holiday Home, Christmas lights The display features some new arches for picture-taking this year.Facebook/Burkman Holiday Home

CM: What's new with your holiday display this year?
JB: We have 115,000 lights, 90% LED. So the light bill is cheaper than the August AC bill. We have a new area in the display called "Santa Land." It is all things Santa, including a Santa toy box that you can stand in for a selfie. We introduced Bluey at the display this year, and it was a total hit. We have some new arches to take pictures in and walk-through and you’ll see some old familiar friends doing some guest appearances. 2025 will be our 10th anniversary of doing displays in this house so we’re expecting great things for next year.

CM: What's it like to be Christmas-light famous?
JB: We are so honored to be a part of this community and to continue to have so many people come year after year. On Sunday, I had a beautiful lady show me a picture of her daughter as an infant in front of the display, and her daughter is now 5 years old. To see them take the same picture, year after year, of their little girl just truly touches my heart. We love being part of families' Christmas traditions. We love being able to support our sponsored families every year. And being able to hand scholarships out to these amazing individuals in our community is pretty heartwarming. We couldn’t do it without our neighbors, the communities of Frisco and Little Elm, and everybody who drives from all over Texas, just to come see our lights.

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The Burkmans' episode of Ready, Set, Glow! will stream on Thursday, December 12 on Hallmark+. The Burkman Holiday Home is at 3809 Hazelhurst Dr., Frisco, 75036. Follow them on their Facebook page for updates, such as special themes for photo sessions. For a list of other spectacular Dallas-area Christmas lights, go here, and for best neighborhoods, visit this list.

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