Outdoor Rooms

Outdoor rooms are becoming more prevalent in the Midwest. What is an outdoor room? And what elements should be considered in the design?

An outdoor room is an extension of the home and serves as a transition point to the outside. In a book by Jay Appleton he coins the concept of “prospect and refuge” in other words; people want to have a sense of shelter, but at the same time want to remain connected to nature. In essence, outdoor rooms create privacy, focal points and refuge and still allow you to experience your surroundings first hand.

An outdoor room stays connected to nature by defining borders. When designing outdoor rooms, the goal is to create a defined space yet keep it open to the surrounding landscape. This is accomplished by incorporating walls, ceilings, and floors, but not in the same way as in an interior room.

Outdoor room borders can be defined by using a fence, trellis, series of masonry walls or plants. Ceilings are created with tree canopies, pergolas, and arbors. Floors can be anything from pavers to groundcovers. A good design will allow for peek view points yet still give you privacy and shelter.

An outdoor room should make a strong connection to the house and the landscape. This is what we mean by transition point. For example, if you have a certain type of stone on the façade of your home you could use that same stone on the column bases of the pergola. You could then intersperse this same stone throughout the landscape in order to achieve cohesion throughout the landscape, outdoor room, and home.

A comprehensive design plan is essential when building in outdoor room. Outdoor rooms can be very involved, especially when implementing fireplaces, kitchens, lighting and water feature.

The cost to install an outdoor room can be expensive; therefore phasing a project in over time is a great way to achieve the ultimate end result. Be willing to wait to get what you really want and need, otherwise you may be disappointed if you try to cut corners. For example; you may have budget constraints and decide to reduce the size of the patio so you can reallocate money elsewhere in order to get the entire project done now. The end result could be that it is soon discovered the patio is too small for your needs. It is worth it to wait because re-doing things is costly, or you plain and simply may be forced to live with something you don’t like. A comprehensive phasing plan is critical so as to limit unnecessary expense.

Contact Pine to Prairie today to get started on creating your very own outdoor room!