THE GREAT OUTDOORS

I've blogged in the past about how this time of year is the best opportunity to get the greatest deals on outdoor furniture. Thanks to the twists and turns of 2020, that isn't the case this year. We've all spent far more time at home than we'd ever imagined during the pandemic, which translates to many of us attacking those long to-do lists. While the industry of home interiors has skyrocketed in the past several months, outdoor spaces (and my designing of them) have surpassed any prior year. After months of staring at cracks in our walls we couldn't wait to get outdoors, and that we did! I've always approached outdoor spaces the same way I do interiors, trying to create intimate, comfortable rooms for every occasion. I'll use a home I recently finished in the Hudson Valley of New York as an example. The owners weren't thrilled with the uneven bluestone patio and wanted an easy way to transition from interior to exterior entertaining and living. To accomplish that, we designed a deck that existed above the existing floorpan of the stone patio, but met the level of the house. If anyone with mobility issues wanted to head outdoors (for a socially-distanced gathering, of course) the flow is simple and easy. Because of the large size of the deck we created several "rooms." From a cooking area, to two entertaining spaces and a more intimate reading nook, this deck became one of the home owners favorite areas to breathe in the fresh air. Here are a few tricks to this transformation:

1.) Because we live in an always-changing weather part of the country, while I always prefer real to fake, Timber Tech is a decking company that uses composite materials that will stand the test of time. 

2.) To match the more modern transformation of the house renovation, a darker decking and cable railing system (also Timber Tech) with integrated rope lighting helped marry the styles.

3.) To anchor the different "rooms" and better to define them, outdoor rugs were used in each area (while deals are hard to find with the increase in popularity of outdoor furniture, Wayfair and Overstock still have great prices on outdoor items like rugs, umbrellas and accessories)