Plot the Area
Before you design an outdoor room, it helps to determine what kind of room you need. Thinking about your favourite pastime will point to the best use of space. Here are a few options:
- an eating and entertaining area
- a spot to lounge or stretch out
- a place for privacy and quiet contemplation
Once you've pinpointed the purpose of the space, you can begin to design the basics. Like indoor rooms, outdoor rooms also benefit from such basic structures as floors and walls. Here are a few ideas to consider:
- Changing the flooring material is one way to define the space (for example, laying flagstone or using interlocking wooden decking squares). However, the easiest, most inexpensive route is to simply lay an indoor/outdoor sisal area rug (now available at most home-improvement stores) over the existing flooring materials, be that a deck or patio, to make the area more room-like.
- Adding walls not only helps to define the space further, it also creates privacy. A simple trick for patio spaces is to surround one or more sides of the space with potted shrubs or trees (for example, boxwood, cedar or yew). Patios and decks can be enclosed with one or more walls of trellis. Porches and balconies can be given more of a room-like feeling by hanging blinds made of bamboo or weather-resistant material.
Now that the room is designed, you can decorate. A helpful hint is to keep the style of your outdoor room consistent with your indoor decor. This will make the space feel like a seamless extension of your home. Here are a few other tips to think about while you're furnishing your outdoor room:
- Don't forget lighting. Porch lights and garden lighting are usual staples outside, but your new living space may require more illumination. Wall-mount fixtures, torches, lanterns, uplighting and hurricane lamps are all possible options to brighten the area.
- Add a few tables. Regardless of whether your new space is for dining or lounging, extra tables are helpful. Placing side tables next to chairs or chaises ensures there's always a place for a plate, a glass and a good book. A console table or small kitchen table (in this case, flea market finds are a clever, cost-effective choice) can do double duty as a serving area, a storage space (for everything from magazines to towels) or simply a surface to decorate with flowerpots.
