How To Create An Outdoor Space That Feels Like The Indoors

Published Date: Dec 13, 2018

Many homeowners find themselves barely using the outdoor spaces associated with their home. Perhaps they use their backyard for storage or for their pets. But outdoor spaces (click for inspiration!) can be so much more useful with a few upgrades. The trick: adding indoor functionality and comfort. Here’s how:

Add an Outdoor Pergola

The first step involves adding a covered pergola to the area directly above the space where the backdoor connects with the backyard. Having a pergola here will help create a seamless transition between indoor and outdoor living.

This covered space can now act as an extension of your home, allowing more space for relaxing, entertaining and everything in between. Whether homeowners are sitting down with friends and having a few drinks, playing games, or having dinner outdoors, a covered space opens more room (no pun intended) for enjoying your property.

Include High-Quality Fabrics

There is a misconception that outdoor furniture cannot be both functional and comfortable. This might have been true a decade ago, but certainly not anymore. With new innovations with fabrics and materials, every patio and outdoor living room can now easily be equipped with stunning yet comfortable furniture.

With a pergola covering your patio, performance velvet fabric can also be an option for patio furniture. This innovative fabric is durable, reasonably weatherproof, and will add a luxurious feel to the patio space that is one of a kind.

Opt for a Quality Lighting Design

One of the most distinct differences between indoor and outdoor living is lighting. Indoors, lighting is never a worry whether it’s day or night. Outdoor spaces, on the other hand, can quickly become unusable after sunset without a proper lighting design.

Including pergola lighting, landscape and hardscape lighting, and strategically placed ambient lights in an outdoor living space allow for endless evenings in the backyard.

Game nights on the back patio call for having all the lights on. Romantic evenings by the outdoor fireplace call for dim, ambient lighting. With easy controls using a remote, homeowners can set the mood for any outdoor activity with the press of a button.

Don’t Forget a Fire Element

When winter arrives, the nights can get cold very quickly, and everyone typically tends to start migrating indoors. With the addition of a fire element, keeping an outdoor living room comfortable and inviting will be a breeze. An inviting fireplace, fire pit or fire bowl will provide warmth and encourage you to use your space throughout every season.

If it’s especially chilly in your area, opt for keeping some warm throw blankets and pillows laid over the outdoor furniture set. This way everyone can snuggle up with a blanket as they sip mulled wine or a hot cocoa and get transfixed by the flames of the fire.

With the help of a covered pergola, high quality outdoor furniture, ambient lighting and a fire element, any outdoor living space will look and feel just like the one shared inside your home. But with a fresher feel and a lot more fresh air!