Entertain your friends and family with by bringing the inside outside
Sydney’s temperate climate offers a great outdoor lifestyle, so why not make the most out of it within the confines of your own home? We’ve noticed the rising trend of outdoor rooms for home renovators, which reflects changes in Australian architecture that make use of our country’s great climate – orienting houses so that the living areas open out towards the sun, giving warmth to the room but also enticing you to step out and absorb some vitamin D.
The greatest thing about an outdoor room is that they’re versatile – whether it’s a patio, an outdoor deck or a sunroom, outdoor rooms have a lot of looks and a lot of varying purposes depending on your lifestyle.
Here are our Top 10 favourite outdoor rooms of the year so far – what do you think of them?
1. The Lakeside Resting Zone
This waterside property makes the most out of its idyllic location and view with a relaxed nautical outdoor living area. The geometric light shade and couch cushions bring the classic structure into the 21st century, and the mirror against the wall makes it seem like the room is much more open and spacious than it already is.
2. The Al Fresco Kitchen
This deck has been made for enjoyment during any meal of the day – fry your eggs and bacon the morning, enjoy a summery salad for lunch, or fire up the barbie for dinner. The pergola makes for a bit of texture while providing protection for the kitchen’s outdoor stove, while the open bar/bench and sink area transforms the traditional dining setting into something that suits the transforming attitudes to the outdoor entertainment area.
3. The Summer Scandinavian Spot
This kitchen and dining area brings the outdoors in by having panelled windows that fold open onto the home’s deck area. The neutral colour scheme and Scandinavian décor options make this room an instant classic, a room to be enjoyed for many summers to come.
4. The More Modest Outdoor Room
This classic sunroom can be as open or as closed as you like – while the walls are all-enclosed, the dappled light coming in from the backyard, the shutters and windows and the plants make for a relaxing living area that is protected from the elements.
5. The Simple Seaside Retreat
This sweet little nook would be right at home on Sydney’s eastern suburbs, with a mix of updated vintage furniture with warming wicker trays and comfy cushions galore. It’s the perfect place to read a book in the afternoon and listen to the sound of the waves crashing at sea.
6. The Linear Plane Meets Nature Room
This pergola/deck situation makes great use of lines and perennial greens to give an otherwise simple outdoor entertainment area a sense of modernity and minimal style. This kind of outdoor room is perfect for relaxing with a feed with your friends and family after a swim in the pool.
7. The Ready-To-Eat Outdoor Room
This outdoor kitchen is all-purpose – surrounded by a garden bed filled with vegetables and herbs, adding a pinch of fresh basil to your pasta dish is as simple as reaching behind you. A perennial vine is entwined in the pergola, giving a sense of privacy with the natural canopy.
8. The Outdoor Entertainment Nook
We’ve written about vertical gardens at length before, and now we’re seeing them being put to good use! This particular hanging garden adds some green to this patio without it crowding the narrow space. Comfy cushions make for a cosy nook and the bamboo growing adds a natural privacy screen to be away from neighbours or traffic from the street.
9. The Open Bedroom
Even your bedroom can be transformed into an outdoor room, with the addition of a garage-style door that leads out onto an outdoor deck. You’re probably going to want a rear-facing bedroom in this case, but we think it’s definitely worth it.
10. The Drinks With Dinner Spot
Funky furniture and appliances coupled with railing planters and a small vertical garden make for another great use of a relatively small space. Our ideal use of this outdoor space would be enjoying a summer’s Sunday afternoon barbecue and drinks with our closest friends at dusk after a productive day out.
Wizard Home Improvements are the one-stop-shop of Australian property owners who want to make affordable and stylish home improvements in order to make the most of their homes. Learn more.
