Creating Outdoor Rooms And Spaces

Outdoor rooms are simply an extension of the home. Fixing up your patio, porch, or garden room extends your living space and gives you that much more room to relax and entertain.
The trend in decorating lately has been to bring the outdoors inside the home. With paint colors, accessories, and fabric prints/motifs, we bring the wonderful colors and essence of the outdoors into our homes with great success. Why shouldn't the opposite be true as well?
Outdoor spaces such as a covered porch, patio area, or garden room can be used during the cool and warmer months of the year. Obviously, someone who lives in Georgia would get more use from their outdoor living area than someone who lives in Ohio, but either way, it's worth the time and effort it takes to spruce up your outdoor living areas.With the busyness of life and the stresses associated with our daily commitments, getting outside to enjoy a bit of nature, peace and quiet is good for our health and mental well-being.

Covered Porches

Covered PorchesA covered porch can be transformed into an additional room for you and your loved ones (and guests) to enjoy. Comfortable seating, side tables, artwork, and plants of all kinds can create an inviting space.

Patios

Patios are multi-tasking outdoor spaces. Consider creating an area just for cooking, one for eating, and perhaps a few conversation areas.

Outdoor Dining

Many folks are building outdoor kitchens now to take full advantage of the warm weather months and to spend more time out of doors. Several small tables or a few large tables with seating will provide a great area to eat and spend time in conversation.

Garden Rooms

Garden rooms can be created with man-made materials or by growing hedges and shrubs in a specific configuration. Trellises and arbors are often seen in garden rooms and used to create ceilings or walls for a garden room. Within that space, use seating suited for the outdoors and weather elements, along with flowers and plants to make the space a true retreat from the world.

More Exterior Home Decorating Ideas

Flea markets, garage sales, and estate sales are excellent places to find unique and purposeful outdoor decor, furniture and accessories. Consider older pieces of bamboo or wicker furniture or even wrought iron pieces to fill your porch or patio area. These can be made to look like new with a bit of spray paint and a few new cushions and throw pillows.
Keep your eyes open for interesting and unusual containers for your flowers, herbs, and plants and choose ones that will add to your overall theme. A theme isn't necessarily a must for outdoor rooms, but often times it's easier to decorate when you have a theme in mind. Themes might include gardens, nautical, rustic, cottage, or country, to name a few.
Natural accents work wonderfully in any outdoor spaces. Use twigs to create frames. Glue shells or small rocks to your terra cotta pots. Use grapevines in wreaths or to create garlands. Display your child's collection of pine cones, rocks, twigs, etc. in a bowl or bucket.
Finished outdoor rooms are not only wonderful for the homeowner, but they will also increase the value of your home over time. The investment is well worth the effort!  http://www.cottagehomedecorating.com/outdoor-rooms.html