Life in this part of the county so easily solicits the input of the great outdoors. That’s why I’ve been on the lookout for creative and functional ways to connect indoor and outdoor spaces. Because we all know that when the weather turns, any amount of sunlight is going to need to be maximized as much as possible.
We don’t want to give up life on our decks and patios for the winter months, but sometimes the weather has other plans. However, if you’ve got the wherewithal, you can outsmart at least a little bit of what mother nature has in store for us.
Enclosed decks, patios and sunrooms are great places to start, but the really tricky part comes in connecting your indoor and outdoor spaces so they flow and fit the feel of your home. One way I like that seems to help the transition is pocket doors. Now, I know that sometimes these sliders get labeled with a bad connotation, either for generally malfunctioning or just looking a bit sloppy, but you may be surprised by what you find if you take a look now.
Sliders and pocket doors have changed a lot in recent years however, and you can find perfectly crafted additions for your home to create the look that fits you best. French doors are also another great way to create a connected feeling between your patio and your home, and they’re also available pretty much anyway you can think of.
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Just stumbled across this amazing backyard on Design*Sponge. It’s the home of Meredith Kleinman, an interior designer and painter, and she has truly made me covet her home.
The interior is beautiful, but it’s the exterior that really got my attention.
The wood deck is complete with shaded sitting area. The three sided bench is a great use of custom carpentry, and takes the outdoor patio to a whole new level, perfect for family use or social gathering. Of course there needs to be a convered dining area too. And don’t miss the concrete work making the floor.
Then there is the small sunroom with amazing tiny tile work just behind the sitting area. I love the return of tiny tile installation like this.
Then there’s the Japanese style bathhouse complete with outdoor shower. The sunny California weather is perfect for outdoor showers. And this one, complete with wooden Japanese inspired hot tub creates the perfect space.
If this doesn’t inspire you to start creating your own backyard oasis, I don’t know what will!
Fences these days aren’t all about keeping the neighbors out. Besides, what if you like your neighbors? There are a lot of new ideas for fencing, and we think they’re great ways to manage your yard and landscape. The right fence can set the stage for a great garden and an enticing entry to your home.
Take a peek at some of our favorite fencing ideas:
You don’t have to take your fencing all the way modern to enjoy the benefits of a new fence. Classic fences can have the same great effect on your landscape to give your home the face lift it needs to make the transition from summer to fall.
What we don’t like is chain link. This style of fence just has to go. In our opinion, no fence is better than a chain link fence. When there are so many other options available, you deserve better than to settle for a chain link fence. Look at wood, stone, iron, composite materials to start; you’d be surprised at how many choices you have to stay away from chain link to border your yard:
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I’ve been basking in the beautiful sun non-stop for the past few days. In Portland, with almost 300 days of the year being grey, rainy, and cold, it’s essential to enjoy the sunny days while I can.
So while living it up on my front porch, I often wish I had a more ideal set up for enjoying the outdoors.
What would that ideal set up be? Why, an outdoor kitchen of course!
It’s entirely possible to create a home away from home in your backyard. No need to keep walking in and out of your home to entertain outdoors, you can install and create everything you need right there in your backyard.
Outdoor kitchens can include everything from a gas grill, a refrigerator, wet bar, ice maker, sink, built-in stereo or TV, and pretty much anything else you can think of. You’ll need to call in a professional to make sure you have the right plumbing, and wiring, but the end result will be worth it when you can spend endless hours enjoying the sun and warm weather.
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As a kid, I spent summers on the family ranch. Idyllic? You bet. Dirty? Absolutely. Maybe that’s why I like the idea of outdoor showers so much. My German grandmother kept an immaculate house, and none of us dared enter covered in field grime and dog hair.
We used a hose snaked through the patio trellis to clean up before we were allowed back inside for supper. More often than not, this was an event in itself, as we enjoyed water fights and got ourselves ready to cannonball into the pool. Years later, my grandparents would improve on our methods by adding more permanent plumbing for an outdoor shower off the back patio.
Combine Fun Styles and Great Function
You don’t have to be farm residents to understand the usefulness of the outdoor shower, as it lends itself to a wide variety of tasks. Maybe you’re:
An avid outdoor exerciser?
An enthusiastic gardener?
A weekend warrior bent on improving your back deck, your landscape?
Into beachy activities at a vacation home?
This might be the perfect solution for you to keep the interior of your home a little more pristine.
Also handy for families with kids, an outdoor pool, or abodes close to the beach, showering al fresco is a fun way to encourage the littler, or even bigger, members of your family to make life a little easier by leaving the dirt, sand, and whatever else outside.
Options for personalizing your outdoor shower and getting creative with the design might get you started thinking up how an outdoor shower could fit into your home’s landscape:
I don’t know about you, but summer makes me itch to get outside and take in all that the season has to offer. Nothing seems more essentially summer than the beach to me, and my favorite outdoor ideas take full advantage of this theme.
With summer in full force, its nice to enjoy the season outside, and even if you can’t be at your favorite beach locale all the time, you can bring the feel of it to your home.
The great thing about beach themed landscaping is that it gives you the opportunity to make your yard and outdoor spaces as individual as the beaches themselves. Everyone has their favorite beach, and a pretty good idea of their favorite things about that beach. Use this as your palatte, and get started! What kinds of plants thrive in your favorite coastal town? Are there textures, features, colors that stand out for you when thinking about that spot? Use them!
Don’t have the ocean view to go along with this fire pit set up? You can still enjoy the effect in your own backyard, minus the travel time.
Have you ever felt a supernatural affinity for a more blissful outdoor living space? Have you ever run across a deck, in someone else’s backyard, off the house of a neighbor, that just plain spoke to you? It might have even said ‘Carl-you need a deck like me in your yard!’
All exaggerations aside, you’re not alone. And you can interpret this as a clear sign from the deck gods that you need a deck to echo who you are, ehnhance your quality of life, and reflect what is uniquely you about your home. Afterall, if you build it, they will come.
And by they we mean your freinds, family members, neighbors, and all kinds of well wishers lured by the power of your new deck. And if the deck gods are feeling especially benevolent, they will also come bearing coolers of frost brewed beverages to make for the summer you’ve been dreaming about.
Barbeques, brews, hot tubs- whatever kind of deck speaks to you is the kind of deck you might want to start looking at. We also suggest standing in your yard, where you envision your new masterpiece, or on your existing deck, if you have one, in an attempt to commune with the deck gods to determine what kind of deck might be right for you. What do you envision, while standing on your humble strip of grass? Of course if inspiration dosen’t strike you, you could also just take a look at some of these divine decks:
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