Creating an Outdoor Room
By Susie Coelho
What does it mean to create an outdoor room? I always start with choosing a style. Tropical, Zen, French Country, Tuscan, Moroccan are some popular choices for outdoor living.
Then I choose the color palette. For Tropical, it might be bright colors. For French Country, it would be blue and yellow. For Moroccan, it would be mango and spice tones. These choices will guide all of your decisions and your style as you create your outdoor room.
A roof, walls and flooring are all important elements to creating an outdoor room. Let’s look at what options you have to bring in these elements:
A Roof: you can create this by using a pergola, arbor, umbrella, or wind sail. Anything that creates a roof of some kind can work, even if it doesn’t block the sun. Some elements will, of course, provide shade as well as a canopy overhead such as an umbrella or wind sail. You can also use umbrellas to define your space. For example grouping three umbrellas together with chairs under can create a seating area on a plain patio. I love using more than one umbrella, and I currently have three in my backyard area right now. I have one large square that covers my outdoor dining table. I have another smaller one that is by the end of the pool in front of my rose garden and I have two outdoor chairs under the umbrella. It creates an instantly defined seating area. The third one is by a chair that I designed for grandinroad.com, which also has a “face table” next to it. This is another fun outdoor table that is part of my collection. So needless to say, I love umbrellas and use them abundantly!
The Walls: There are always walls, whether they are the walls of the house by the back patio or the side of a garage. They can be boundaries, like fences, hedges or even furniture, and screens and trellises can also create walls. I have a vertical garden on many of my walls with creeping fig covering them almost completely. I have another back wall where I have hung a mirror to open up the space and create even more of the look of an indoor room outside. Another wall has some outdoor sconces that bring in light.
The Floor: Pavers, a deck, grass, gravel, sand, and even a rug are all floor elements. Outdoor rugs these days are really amazing as when they get dirty you can rinse them off with a hose. A rug brings in a lot of softness and warmth to any deck or patio.
Once the basic elements are understood, you can now start filling it with your treasures, remembering to stick to your style and color palette as a guide. Start with those things that you can easily accomplish and afford. There are so many fabulous outdoor items these days, from battery operated candles, to furniture that looks like indoor furniture. You should shop wisely to find those elements that enhance your outdoor room. Even a few new pillows make a difference. Simplicity is the new black! Don’t make it complicated.
