›› With birds singing, trees budding, flowers blooming and temperatures rising, it’s time to create outdoor space around the house. Think of the back patio or porch as another room for family time, entertaining, or relaxing.
“It’s not just an outdoor room — it’s a sanctuary,” says Michele Angello, owner of Corbel Interiors in Aurora (corbelinteriors.com).
Even sanctuaries start as a blank canvas awaiting its personal makeover, and this means thinking of the wall-less area outdoors as a room.
“It’s so much fun to do outdoor spaces,” says Pam Moore, owner at Poonam By Design in Aurora (poonamsbydesign.com). “With curtains or mosquito netting we can create ‘walls’ and people can close themselves in or just create that ambiance. We can stain a concrete slab, add tile, or put a rug down to add color and comfort.”
Blowin’ In the Wind
Mother Nature has an influence on designing for outdoor rooms in Colorado, says Moore. “Two elements, especially in the foothills and on the plains, are the wind and the sun,” she says.
The sun tends to bleach out colors over time and the wind simply blows away beautiful little pillows and handsome umbrellas. The solution is to select solid benches, chairs and tables, and no glass tabletops, says Moore.
Instead of umbrellas, she recommends pergolas and awnings that can withstand strong winds but still provide that necessary shade.
Moore also incorporates storage space into outdoor room designs so that comfy throw pillows can be tossed into a box disguised as a bench rather than blown away.
You Gotta Have Style
An outdoor space should be as comfortable as an indoor room. “I think people might not be aware of how much better the indoor/outdoor fabrics have gotten,” Angello says. “Even though it’s an outdoor space, make it as soft and cushy and comfortable as an indoor space. Go beyond using those white plastic chairs. Put pillows out there and make it inviting.”
When selecting those pillows, rugs and other fabrics, Moore says that it typically makes sense to have the same color palette from inside extend to the patio or porch.
“We see a lot of transitional colors like beige, blacks and white, that are all very contemporary, with pops of color, like reds, greens and oranges,” Moore says. “Continue the scene from inside to outside.”
Four Seasons
Whether it’s global warming or just Colorado’s mild winters, use it to your advantage in designing an outdoor room so that it can be used and attractive most of the year.
“Even in the winter, we have one of these 60-degree days and then the patio can be used,” Moore says.
Keep the seasons in mind when planning those unseen aspects of fire pits — Moore suggested permanent gas flame so these can be enjoyed at the flip of a switch — and water displays.
“If we do any kind of rock feature with a fountain, we recommend running it all year long,” Moore says. “Even if it freezes, it makes a great ice sculpture!”
The option to leave a fountain filled with water and running in any season depends on the type of fountain, and some styles do have to be drained and covered in the winter.
Come to your senses:
When designing an outdoor space, Aurora interior designer Michele Angello recommends that people consider the five senses.
Touch. There are more outdoor rugs to choose from than ever before, says Angello. Consider your bare feet when selecting a base for your outdoor room design.
Sight. Lighting is an important part of an outdoor room. Angello says that over the years she collected charming lanterns than can be placed on tabletops or hung from a pergola to create more ambiance than an electric light bulb. “A string of lights can be a nice touch in an outdoor space,” she says.
Sound. “I am really fond of having a water feature outside,” says Angello. “It brings so much in terms of atmosphere. The soothing sound of water is like bringing the sounds of a river in the mountains into your backyard. It makes it more of an oasis, not just an outdoor room.”
Taste. Often outdoor spaces are located right off the kitchen, so it makes sense to have a small herb garden close by the seating area.
Smell. For some people, the wood smoke from a fire pit is an essential smell of being outdoors. For others, it might be a certain flower or herb. Either way, these can and should be features of an outdoor room.