Designing an Outdoor Room

In recent years a new trend has begun to emerge in the world of landscape design, and that is "outdoor rooms." Chances are you have seen pictures of such rooms, and even used them a time or two. These rooms can be used for anything from an outdoor kitchen, to a theater room, all depending on what you want. Designing an outdoor room for your personal landscape needs is actually quite easy. In fact, all you really need to do is follow these simple guidelines, and you will have the design all worked out. Just remember to have a little paper with you while you are reading the guidelines, and jot down your ideas.

• Purpose. For what purpose will you be using this new outdoor room? Will it be a kitchen, or an entertaining area? Will it be a family room, or a cinema? Before do anything else, take a little time to consider what your dreams are for the new room. This is going to be the room's purpose, which will decide and influence every other aspect of the design process. If you stop and think about it, it would be a little difficult to design a room for which you have no purpose, wouldn't it?
• Location, location, location. When designing an outdoor room, you need to think of it as if it were any other room in the house, how it relates to the rest of the home, and so on. This means that its location is going to play a huge role in the design. Take some time to get a feel for the layout of your home (both inside and out) and how the proposed room will interact with the home in general. Choose a location that makes sense, and that feels as if it is a natural extension of the home.
• Definition. Every room needs to have a defined space, and an outdoor room is not going to be any different. When designing an outdoor room, you can use just about anything to help create the "boundaries" or walls of the room. Some of the things that you can use are things like lattice works, pergolas, shrubs, bushes, plants, or even patio decking. It all depends on the purpose and location of your outdoor room.
• Decoration. What room would be complete without decoration? Even an outdoor room is going to require a little bit of decorating. When designing an outdoor room consider using different things such as water features, flooring, fireplaces, plants, and even furniture to help make your room perfect. While planning out the room, draw a few different designs with different combinations of what you would like to see. When you have come up with the combination that you like the most, then you are finished with your design work.