Linking indoor and outdoor spaces has become a huge trend in modern home design. It offers several advantages, including better use of space, a more appealing home and a higher resale value. If you’re short on ideas on how to achieve the perfect indoor-outdoor design, here are some tips that’ll help you get started with your project.
Design Ideas for Your Indoor-Outdoor Living Space
Backyard Rooftops
Backyard rooftops are ideal for homes with small lots or uneven land. Designers can create furnished terraces for lounging and privacy. Alternatively, they can install a hot tub or swimming pool, which requires custom plumbing and structural updates.
Indoor-Outdoor Pools
The indoor-outdoor pool creates a luxurious and seamless look for any home. Designers can extend it from the living room to the patio or yard and add furnishings for lounging and relaxation.
Outdoor Kitchens
Outdoor kitchens lower cooling bills during summer because you can cook outside. Plus, it’s perfect for entertaining guests. An outdoor kitchen is typically fitted with a countertop, grill, sink and under-counter refrigerator.
Alfresco Dining
Complement your outdoor kitchen or an adjacent indoor kitchen with an alfresco dining space. This type of dining area can conveniently accommodate several guests. It also makes it easier to serve meals straight from your indoor or outdoor kitchen to the outdoor dining table.
Indoor-Outdoor Bathrooms
Want a unique master bathroom with a sundeck? Remodeling contractors can build an indoor-outdoor bathroom that lets you maximize interior and exterior spaces.
Outdoor Gaming
Families that love playing chess, checkers and other board games will love an outdoor gaming area. Giant chess boards or checkerboards on the patio can give your home a sophisticated yet fun look. Designers can also build special long tables and furniture suitable for outdoor gaming.
Open-Concept Floor Plans
Seamless transitions with wide openings are a hallmark of blended living space design. Sliding glass doors allow you to have zero visual clutter and a smooth indoor-outdoor transition. Furthermore, floor-to-ceiling glass walls and skylights allow plenty of natural light indoors.
Why Blend Your Indoor and Outdoor Spaces
Seamless transitions between indoor and outdoor spaces eliminate boundaries, creating an appealing open-concept design. The benefits of blended spaces include the following:
An Area for Entertaining Guests
Homeowners who often host dinners and lunches want enough space for everyone. A blended space makes everyone feel they’re together even when some are seated inside and others outside. You can sit indoors without feeling isolated from those who are outside.
Expanded Living Space
Seamless indoor-outdoor transitions make every part of the house feel spacious and accessible to each other. Designers achieve an open plan look that makes your home feel bigger, letting you turn your patio or yard into a gaming room or outdoor kitchen.
Plenty of Natural Light
If you want a home with plenty of natural light, blended living spaces use floor-to-ceiling windows and sliding doors to let more light inside. Furthermore, solar reflective glass lets you achieve good lighting with minimal heat gain. That said, ask your home remodeler about excellent energy-saving window choices.
Closeness to Nature
Smooth indoor-outdoor transitions let natural air inside and offer beautiful outdoor views. With large windows or sliding doors, you can choose to enjoy your view in your indoor or outdoor living space.
Increased Home Value
Blended living spaces have skyrocketed in popularity, creating high market demand. You can use this design to increase your home’s value. Consult your remodeling contractor about how to improve your home’s value with a seamless indoor-outdoor design.
Best Practices for Indoor-Outdoor Design
A reputable remodeler will follow these design practices when creating your blended living space:
Create Bigger Openings
Large openings are inviting and help spaces feel open and roomy, making floor-to-glass windows the best choice for them. Alternatively, designers can use French doors or rows of folding glass doors for smaller entryways.
Remove Walls
Walls can limit vision and introduce an isolated feeling. Designers may suggest knocking down and replacing them with floor-to-ceiling windows or bi-fold doors with narrow framing. In addition, your remodeler may also ask you to replace your doors with glazed sliding ones.
Ensure Level and Uniform Flooring
Indoor and outdoor spaces with level flooring create a seamless look. To enhance the indoor-outdoor connection further, designers use the same floor material and texture in both areas. Some choice materials include tile and porcelain stoneware, which can withstand foot traffic in indoor-outdoor spaces.
Use a Unified Color Scheme
Color unifies indoor and outdoor spaces, so you have to consider this when choosing various design elements. Most designers use at least three colors for an interior or exterior palette. Then, they use the same style and color of furniture, fabrics and other elements for indoor and outdoor spaces.
Add Decorations
Your interior and exterior décor should be similar. Designers will stick to your modern interior design and include the same pieces for your outdoor decorations to introduce a seamless and unified look. For example, if you have brick slips outdoors, designers can use brick slips indoors as well to make the spaces feel more connected.
Add Canopies
Canopies let you occupy your entire patio and use it during rainy weather. Use glazed ones to allow natural sunlight to flow inside and reduce visual clutter. If you don’t want fixed canopies, retractable ones with weather sensors are the perfect alternatives. For more suggestions, ask your contractor for ideas.
Design an Indoor Courtyard or Garden
Plants inside the house make the space feel like a part of the outdoors. Designers can use an indoor courtyard or garden to introduce warmth inside a home. They can use sliding doors and floor-to-ceiling windows to let more sunlight in and serve as passages.
Ensure Proper Lighting
Lighting schemes and sources should look similar indoors and outdoors. For example, a pendant light indoors and outdoors creates a consistent look and makes the spaces feel unified. That said, consult your contractor regarding the lighting design that best connects your indoor and outdoor spaces.
Want to make your indoor-outdoor space as seamless as possible? Trust an experienced historic restorations and home remodeling company in your area to create it for you. Cottage Industries, Inc has a great reputation for top-notch workmanship. Call us today at (610) 293-9750, or fill out this contact form to schedule a consultation.
