No outdoor living space is completely successful until it is integrated with the surrounding landscape. Just as there are principles for designing interior spaces, there are also guidelines for exterior ones. If you are choosing a...

Furniture for outdoor use spans the designs made popular through the centuries. You can select benches similar to those used in Versailles, Adirondack chairs, antebellum wrought iron inspired by Victorian New Orleans, and myriad other...

Free-standing outdoor spaces, such as gazebos or other garden structures, differ from sheltered spaces in several ways. Generally, they are not seen from the front of the house and are usually integrated with the landscape. Gazebos...

Savvy homeowners don’t end their decorating at the door, they keep going to include the decks, porches, sunrooms, and patios that surround their homes. They treat these spaces as outdoor “rooms” that deserve the attention...

Attached outdoor spaces that provide total or partial shelter should be considered an extension of the home’s interior design. In most cases these areas embrace an entrance or serve to join two interior areas-a breezeway, for...

A deck or patio is used most often as a fair-weather family room. Comfortable seating comes first, arranged for conversation as it would be in an indoor room. Add to this an area for snacking and outdoor recreation. Consider the activities...

Some people set up complete, permanent cooking centers as the focus of their outdoor spaces. Others content themselves with a simple grill. In either case, practical planning makes outdoor cooking efficient and more enjoyable, whether...

Add interest. While both balance and harmony are used to achieve unity, too much unity can be, well, boring. That’s where variety and contrast come in handy. By varying the size, shape, color, material, texture, and detail, you...

Pillows, upholstery, slipcovers, shades and blinds, lighting, flooring, and rugs all make a sunroom or a porch lush and comfortable. What you can use depends on how rigorous the weather is on the furnishings. In a relatively moisture-free...

To figure out traffic patterns, think about how you will enter this outdoor room. Will it be mostly from the house? Is the approach a path from the house or porch? Are there other areas, such as garden beds, potting sheds, bird baths,...