Your yard should provide an outdoor living area in which you can enjoy athletic pursuits, gardening, family or friend gatherings. The yard should provide a welcoming connection to the interior of your home. You can easily achieve this with the right decorating choices in architecture, flooring, doors, plantings and furniture.
Rock Wall
Install a rock wall in the room that connects to the backyard, typically the living room or den. Continue the wall along the edge of the patio or portico outside the patio doors. This provides a seemingly extended room. You can build on the effect by also including appropriate flooring in both the living room and the patio. One option that works well for this, sandstone, comes in a variety of colors and textures. Choose from tiles, pavers, and copers. Use the same flooring in the living room and the patio or the exterior walkways. This creates the feeling that the living room or sunroom simply continued into the back or front yard.
Patio Doors
The doors leading to the backyard should use glass to enhance the effect of connected space. This could be sliding glass patio doors, French doors or bi-fold doors. The French or bi-fold doors should use wood frames that match the woodwork in the yard such as the fencing or the planter boxes. Speaking of plantings, choose interior potted plants that connect to the plantings in the garden. Use planters that use the same materials as used in the interior of the home. For example, terra cotta, sandstone, oak or pine planter boxes all work well in both the interior and exterior living areas.
Seamless Design
Connect the exterior and interior spaces by using the same colors to decorate and carryover in the materials. Add benches, tables, and seating areas to create an outdoor kitchen or dining area. Also, add an outdoor sink and/or cooktop, in addition to a bar-be-queue grill. Choosing a fence made of natural materials such as wood or stone will protect your privacy while establishing a perimeter. A height of about six feet protects your privacy while blending with trees and other tall plantings.
You can create a living area in your backyard that enhances your enjoyment of your home. Treat your backyard and front yard as if they were additional rooms of your home. You can entertain in either and enjoy both for private time. Get started today creating the living area in your yard.
