How to Create the Perfect Indoor / Outdoor Space This Summer

If your home has outdoor space, you should be able to use it all year. The problem is that your outdoor space can often feel cut off from the rest of your home, which might stop you from using it as much as you like. If you want to start using it more, you can create a space that combines the indoors and outdoors. You don't have to be either inside your home or outside in the yard. You can create an open space where you're not exactly in or out, and you get to enjoy the benefits of both. Here's how you could do it.

Create an Outdoor Living Space

Firstly, you need a space outdoors that's suitable for outdoor living. Ideally, this would be right up against your home. It could be in your backyard, or it might even be at the front or side of your home, but there should be direct access from the house. If there isn't existing access, you can always put in a door. Your outdoor living space could be a deck or a patio, or perhaps a porch or veranda, or even a sun room or conservatory. It just needs to be a space where you can enjoy being outdoors. You might even add extra walls or a roof, whether they're permanent or retractable to create a more open space.

Provide Outdoor Shelter from Sun and Rain

A good indoor/outdoor space should be available to use all year. While your indoor space already gives you a roof over your head, you might also want to consider how to make the outdoor section more suitable. You will want some shade to protect you from the sun in the summer (and on sunny winter days), as well as protection from wind, rain, snow and other adverse weather. You might want to have a permanent or retractable roof outdoors, or perhaps an awning with an electrical control. Or maybe you just want to use parasols to provide some sun protection.

Warmth for Cooler Days

Getting outdoors is easy on sunny and warm days, but what if you want to use the space when it's a bit cooler? You might not even want to open the doors, let alone sit outdoors. If you want to create an indoor/outdoor space that works well all year, you need a way to keep warm when you're outdoors. Outdoor heaters or perhaps a fireplace or fire pit are great choices to create a warm space. You might also want to create a sun room or have a glass roof or walls, so the space warms up on sunny days. Keep your indoor space warm by having a barrier between outdoors and indoors, but don't cut off the space. You could have a curtain that's easily brushed aside or maybe a glass door.

Blur the Lines Between Indoor and Outdoor

If you want your indoor and outdoor spaces to be more like a single area, you can find ways to blur the lines between them. One thing to start with is thinking of ways to avoid having too clear of a threshold between the two spaces. Instead of having a single door that you have to open and close, why not French doors or bifold doors? These can be opened out to connect the two spaces more fully. Plus, if you have glass doors, you can still see through to the other space, even when the door is closed.

Make it a Social Space

You can make your space a great place to hang out with both friends and family. If your living room connects to your backyard, you can easily extend it to create a larger social space. If you don't have enough space for both seating and dining outdoors, you could have one indoors and one outdoors. Have a dining table inside by the door, so you can still get the benefit of the sun when you eat. Or maybe if your kitchen is close to the door, you might prefer to have a dining space set up outdoors. Extend your seating so that whether you're hanging out with your family or having a party, everyone can move between the indoor and outdoor social areas.

Improve with Entertainment

If you want to add entertainment to your space, it's much easier if you have the indoor space to play with too. You don't have to worry about weatherproofing electrical items if you can have things like a TV and speakers indoors instead of outdoors. You can also do things like having a sound system and all your necessary wiring indoors, while you have speakers on or even in the exterior walls. Of course, you can have fun things outdoors too, whether you want to have an outdoor TV or have some lawn games to play with family and friends.

Bring the Outdoors Indoors

Creating an outdoor living space isn't that difficult, but what if you want to make your indoor space a bit more like the outdoors? If you want to bring the outdoors in, adding some plants is an easy way to do it. You can have all sorts of plants in different positions, from pots to hanging baskets. You could also add other outdoor motifs, from natural colors to patterns featuring plants and animals.

Decorate

Don't forget to decorate your new indoor/outdoor area. If you want it to seem like one coherent space, you should think about how to decorate the indoors and outdoors in similar ways. Maybe the furniture is in the same style, even if some of it is weatherproof and designed to sit outdoors all year. You might make the outdoor section look more like an indoor space with a rug - you can buy some that are suitable for using outside. Choose a theme or style that you can use throughout the space, so it all pulls together.

Create a space that blends indoor and outdoor living if you want to make better use of your home all year. You'll have a great place to spend time with family and friends.