Outdoor Room Top Tips

Posted: 15 April 2011 by Metricon Homes

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Think of your indoor-outdoor area as an extra room in your home, an extension of your living area - so that you can enjoy the alfresco air and the stars at night while having a meal and entertaining - it’s about creating a dramatic “resort like” effect outside with the warm ambience modern luxuries can offer.

There are some hot tips to remember when creating the perfect indoor-outdoor space for you.

First: have you been seduced by the lure of watching a favourite movie at one of the many “under the stars” venues springing up everywhere – in parks, on rooves, by the sea-side? It’s the drive-in effect brought bang up to date! Well, just imagine: you can now create the same effect at home with a large format TV and DVD player wall-mounted undercover in your outdoor area, with speakers positioned to suit the seating arrangement. It doubles as a great way to deliver music or sports coverage to an informal dinner party, too.

There are some practical issues to consider when decorating an indoor-outdoor room. Choose UV-resistant furniture, for example, which can also resist any rain that blows in. That favourite old leather couch might look like a good idea, but the first 40 degree day or wild westerly storm could ruin it forever. Make sure any exposed metal such as table legs is stainless steel or powder coated. With furnishings, quick-drying anti-microbial materials resist mould or mildew.

Adding heating to your outdoor space extends its usage throughout the year. The choices now are endless - we still have a soft spot for a carefully-positioned chimenea which adds light and warmth with its design and presence as well as actually very practically projecting heat. But integrated, wall-mounted log fires, coal fires, and gas fires are all showing up in increasing numbers - and at the other extreme you can even find outdoor air-conditioning units to take the summer blast off a midsummer day, but they are still rare and expensive.

For a really relaxing luxurious touch, try integrating garden beds and water features with your decking and walls.

Stacked stone walls are very trendy, and enclose a raised garden bed very effectively. Or merge timber sleepers with stone for a more rustic effect. Plant judiciously with a mixture of trailing groundcover, palms and cordylines – they will all enjoy a semi-shaded position in your indoor outdoor room – and every day feels like you’ve nipped off for a quick five days in New Caledonia or Fiji.

Wall mounted ‘trickling’ fountains add the gentle sound of a summer creek with a practical cooling effect, run into a pond where the water can be reticulated back up to the top of the wall again. Stones at the bottom minimise water lost through evaporation, and uplights placed in the retaining pool create a magical effect after dark. Just one word of warning - trickles of water can be delightful, generating a unique, relaxing ambience. Too much can be an annoyance, with people having to raise their voices to talk over it.

Of course, your relaxation options are not limited to the ground floor of your new home. Have you ever considered having a private outdoor room leading off your Master Bedroom suite on the top floor of your home? Increasingly common as a part of larger home designs, they offer a fascinating private refuge for the discerning buyer, high above the noise and distraction of the outside world – or even just of the kids and their friends!

Almost all Metricon display homes showcase a vast variety of indoor-outdoor rooms. Check metricon.com.au for display locations.