10 Top Ideas for Outdoor Living

Summer is here and it’s time for outdoor living – hooray! Do you have a favorite outdoor living area, deck, or spot in the sun at your home? Or are you dreaming of creating one? In this article, we’ll take a look at some of the best outdoor living ideas and trends to inspire and help you create your own.

Blog | Home Design

By Carolyn White

1. Bring the Indoors Out

Indoor-style is moving outside as new durable outdoor fabrics and materials make furnishings more suitable for outdoors. Create a comfortable seating area with personal style using stylish new waterproof furniture and area rugs made from recycled plastics.

Add in some bright-colored ceramic tables and accent pillows for a pop of color and decorative outdoor light fixtures and lanterns to create an inviting glow in the evenings.

2. Create Outdoor Rooms

Whether your outdoor area is large or small you can give it a better definition and make it more functional by creating outdoor rooms.

Think of dividing your garden or yard into functional spaces – just as you would inside your home. Create places for eating, lounging, playing, and bathing.

3. Outdoor Kitchens

Outdoor kitchens are all the rage and why not?! Who wants to be stuck in a hot kitchen on a beautiful evening, when you could be cooking and eating, al fresco.

You can create an outdoor kitchen simply by adding some counter-style prep space around an outdoor grill. Consider adding a prep sink or an ice maker if you have an available water connection.

If you have an electrical connection, go one step further and add an under-counter refrigerator, refrigerated drawers, or a beverage cooler.

Want to learn more?

How to Create Outdoor Areas with RoomSketcher

4. Open Up

However, if you love the idea of an outdoor kitchen, but you don’t have the room or utilities to create one, then consider adding a large sliding door or pass thru window to open up your kitchen to your garden.

One of our favorite outdoor living ideas is to add a counter and some stools to create an instant meal prep, serving, and bar area.

5. Lose the Lawn

As water shortages threatening more areas, it’s time to re-think your landscape. Take an outdoor living idea from hotels and restaurants and think hardscape with green accents.

Combine pavers, stones, and decking to create a functional multi-use landscape. Add some terracing and height differences to add variety and interest.

Plant the border with tall leafy plants for softness and color. Then feature sculptural plants with interesting shapes and textures in planters and pots.

6. Introduce the Elements

Two outdoor living ideas that are catching on fast are fire and water features. Water reflects the sky and adds calming ambient white noise and cooling humidity. While fire warms us and draws us together. Both of these elements promote meditation.

A water feature can be as large as a pool or as simple as a recirculating fountain. Outdoor fireplaces and fire pits are all the rage (and they’re fun for toasting marshmallows) but a bowl of candles or a grouping of lanterns can create the same effect. Add the elements to your outdoor living areas to promote balance and relaxation.

7. Places to Gather

With rising real estate costs, demand and a desire to downsize, our indoor living spaces are smaller. Therefore we need our outdoor living areas to be multi-purpose and an extension of our indoor space. Make yours entertainment-ready by adding a few of these simple elements:

Built-in seating around the perimeter or along one side
A bar or wall mounted ledge for serving beverages or food
Lounge seating around a coffee table or fire pit
Outdoor entertainment such as wireless stereo speakers, a movie screen or flat screen TV
Ambient lighting for evening entertaining with outdoor fixtures, lanterns, light strings

7. Places to Gather — *For more inspiration on outdoor areas check out this* Pinterest board

8. Spaces to Relax

Our outdoor living areas should also provide us with a place to relax and escape our busy lives. When laying out yours create a space where you can escape to relax, read and stretch out. Here are a few elements to consider adding:

Yoga platform
Hammock
Comfy chair and ottoman or lounge chair for reading
Daybed
Porch swing
Add water feature to set the mood

9. Add a Pergola or Pavilion

Create a semi-enclosed outdoor living area with a pergola or pavilion. Beat the heat by creating a shady spot with all the amenities of being indoors. Adding a pavilion or pergola has become much easier as many outdoor furnishing companies now sell pergola and pavilion kits too.

Whether it houses an area for lounging, cooking, or dining, a pergola or pavilion creates a perfect place to enjoy the outdoors.

10. Backyard Shed

The backyard shed is no longer just for extra storage. With cool prefabs and a little clever design, you can create an awesome backyard hideaway. A backyard shed can house all sorts of activities from a home office or art studio to game rooms and lounges, even spa-like bathrooms with a shower, sauna, or tub with a garden view.

Extend your shed with a deck, terrace, or pergola area, and make it part of your outdoor living areas. Whether for work or play, escape or entertainment, a backyard shed can provide a useful and versatile outdoor living extension to your home.

Plan and Visualize your Outdoor Living Ideas in 3D

Just draw your floor plan, furnish and decorate it, and see your design in 3D – it’s that easy! For additional features, such as stunning 3D Photos, high-resolution 2D and 3D Floor Plans, and Live 3D viewing – simply upgrade your RoomSketcher subscription at any time.