I’ve always been intrigued by outdoor rooms. The outside is always so full of creative possibilities! My husband and I spent many hours in our last two houses designing and creating living areas that stretched the borders of our home. I love the idea of taking some of the same design principles we use on the inside to create special spaces outside.
We bought our current house As Is, which as I’ve explained before, meant it was sorely neglected. Because we’ve had to spend so much time and money bringing things up to speed, decorating both inside and outside has taken a backseat to more fundamental issues. Nevertheless, our backyard is begging for some attention.
As I was thinking through what could be done with limited money, time or manpower (story of my life, darn those limitations!), I started to consider basic design principles that would help me get going on the project. I’m not a gardener by any stretch of the imagination, but a lot of the same principles I use for creating style and function inside a home apply to the outside too. More often than not, we can accomplish a lot just with creativity. That is good news for those of us who have access to more creativity than funds.
To explore some outdoor room ideas, I will do a series of posts coming up periodically over the next few months sharing creative inspiration for designing outdoor spaces. I’ll even do a few Drive Bys in my own neighborhood to illustrate some points!
READER PARTICIPATION: I could use your help on this! If you have some creative ways to define, create or decorate outdoor rooms, email me! I’d love to share your photos and ideas over the course of our series (which will go on periodically over the next few months) so start gathering your outdoor room inspiration!
Photos: House to Home
oh what beautiful pictures Melissa! Exactly the dreamy, romantic outdoor rooms I’d want to have if my husband wasn’t so urban sophisticate… I can’t wait to read more of this series because my patio is the trouble spot in my home and I’m totally stuck on how to solve it.
What beautiful outdoor rooms! Love that sitting area – what a great escape. Being outdoors and creating an outdoor room is one of life’s greatest pleasures. Nature, fresh air, you name it. It’s just so nice.
Rosemary
http://her-home-blog.com/2008/04/ideas-for-creating-an-outdoor-living-room/
That little cottage is the sweetest! I am working on my outdoor space at peacock pavilions and I will look forward to your outdoor posts!
what an inspiring post! i love the idea of outdoor rooms, and wanted to create one. i love the little cabana and actually my kids old playhouse is that very style ~ i never thought of converting it to put by the pool! thanks, now i just have to get hubby on-board. xo
Oh, I love these! So pretty and fresh. Great blog!
Hi, I know it’s been blogged to death, but some of my faves are still kwid’s Santa Monica Viceroy . I uploaded two pictures from kwid.com and the Viceroy’s website but I’m not sure how to share them here. The flickr URLs for them are:
http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2215/2445670713_e018865172_o.jpg
http://flickr.com/photos/71696744@N00/2445670627/
Also, the Parker Palm Springs by Jonathan Adler – two photos from jonathanadler.com:
http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2016/2446516456_883a399875_o.jpg
http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3218/2446516392_4e8b628cd6_o.jpg
sorry I don’t know how to show the photos in a better way, but you might want to snag them for inspiration on a future post. I credited the websites in the titles – obviously, I did not take these!
becky