Expanding the footprint of your home by adding outdoor living spaces does more than just meet your style and social needs. Being outside is really, really, really good for you. Even without exercise— being outside in natural light and shade can improve your health and happiness at an accelerated speed. Jamie Ducharme, a correspondent for TIME magazine on health and science explains, "Spending time outdoors, especially in green spaces, is one of the fastest ways to improve your health and happiness.” Less than 20 minutes in the outdoors has “been shown to lower stress, blood pressure and heart rate, while encouraging physical activity and buoying mood and mental health." Not only is our mental and physical health greatly benefited by spending more time outside, the physiological effects the body’s health is real and it is measurable, says Michelle Kondo, a research and social scientist with the USDA-Forest [...]

Coming to Work With a Purpose "It doesn’t matter what religion you belong to, true service is always a component of that. And instead of giving lip service we are going to do something that enables all of the crew, associates, and staff to wake up in the morning, and come to work with a purpose." Jim —Owner of TruReligion Pancake & Steakhouse Second Chances with Jim, Owner of TruReligion Pancake & Steakhouse Jim creates second chances. Timber pergola kit set up for outdoor breakfast dining. True service is true religion. We’re taking one homeless person, uh, or vet, or even a felon from our prisons and our streets, because they are ours. It’s pathetic in Salt lake City when you see how dire the circumstances become. We take that individual who has [...]

To begin the process of constructing a new pavilion or other type of outdoor living shelter precise measurements must be taken. The first step is to measure the size of your prospective space to determine how much room you have for your shade shelter and surrounding footprint area. Typically,  a standard shade shelter has a two-foot roof projection on all sides.  Below are the simple basics of measuring for a pavilion, arbor, gazebo or pergola kit. If you have any questions, reach out to your Design Manager. They are there to ensure your project is a success. "The instructions that come with it are very self-explanatory. I had a minor problem getting the measurements right. After a quick phone call, I got it straightened out. It was a pleasure working with Western Timber [...]