By Linda C. Lentz

According to author and master gardener Suzanne Pickett Martinson, this home demonstrates many of the attributes of a successful outdoor room. These comprise: a wonderful open-slatted structure through which sunlight filtered by the trees is allowed to enter, a ceiling fan and a gas fireplace, comfortable dining and seating areas, effective lighting, and slate flooring that flows from the interior, plus a soothing fountain and wind chimes. “It looks fresh, and you feel transported by the greenery. Yet it’s not a big yard.”

From Back Yard to Great Yard
There was a time when the American home was divided into two distinct areas: inside and out. In regions with radical changes of season, picnic tables and barbecues, like white clothing, were only uncovered—or unearthed from the basement—on Memorial Day. They then became the center of all social and family activities for the next three months, until Labor Day, when they were packed up for another year. In balmier climes, pool and patio were often decked out in furnishings purchased at the same shop as the grill.

Times change. Just as white has become de rigueur for the most fashionable winter wardrobe, today’s outdoor spaces are morphing into open-air rooms that are viable extensions of a home’s interior. “The mind-set just shifted,” says Susanne Pickett Martinson, master gardener and author of Outdoor Style. “Homeowners suddenly realized they had porches, overhangs, cabanas, and gazebos that weren’t being used except for one or two months out of the year. And in many places you could be outside almost 12 months of the year.”

The solution, declares Martinson, can be as simple as getting a comfortable chair, a table, and outdoor lighting so you can read outside. Then again, she says, “You do all kinds of things. There are a lot of new products that are made for outdoor use that look like interior furnishings.”

Creature Comforts
Interior designer Beth Scott Hauer of the Denver-based Associates III reports, “Our clients are getting pretty elaborate with their outdoor spaces.” To illustrate, she cites examples of full outdoor kitchens and bars, and media centers with flat-screen televisions. These are sometimes set within semienclosed areas complete with walls, ceilings, and sophisticated lighting—even heating and cooling, in the form of ceiling fans and free-standing space heaters or actual built-in systems and working fireplaces. In particular, she describes a current project for a family of six in Aspen. “It will have a lounge with outdoor seating upholstered in beautiful decorative fabrics, a pizza oven and grill, warming drawers and refrigerator, and a TV.”

While Hauer sees this penchant for bringing almost all of a home’s conveniences outdoors as a fairly recent phenomenon in the mountain and northern states, Tucson-based interior designer Lori Carroll claims that it has been evolving on her turf for the past decade. “People really want to live in their homes,” she explains. “And what an outdoor room does is allow homeowners to expand their living environments, whether it’s 200 square feet or 1,000.”

One of her favorite installations involves a young couple with three small children who built an actual three-sided outer room with a roof that opens on to a contemporary loggia on the back of their house. It boasts all of the aforementioned accoutrements in addition to a complete stainless steel kitchen vented by a powerful range hood, skylights, integrated shelving, air-conditioning, and luxurious weather-resistant drapes and Roman shades to protect it from the elements.

Practical Considerations
For a seamless transition from indoors to out, Carroll suggests the use of architectural products such as opening glass wall systems and indoor-to-outdoor stone flooring, as well as decorating with the same color scheme throughout. “People love this effect,” Carroll notes.

If wind is an issue, Hauer recommends purchasing adequately fortified furniture and umbrellas, with durable coverings to minimize the unsightly effects of blowing dust, Carroll steers clear of dark-colored granites. In addition, she says to consider the heat factor when installing refrigeration, which will need to be shaded.

For creating visual flow from interior to exterior, Hauer advises calling in an interior designer, and she feels that landscape architects are key to the successful integration of nature. “This growing passion for being outside and extending living spaces is really pretty amazing,” she concludes. “Everywhere I go I see people utilizing spaces in ways they never thought they would.”