Category Archives: Outdoor Design Ideas

Rocking chairs, porch swings, tables and recliners, Southern Living shows you how to arrange your porch seating to make the most of the space allotted.  Jennifer Kopf, Home Editor at Southern Living, walks you through the different types of porches and suggests the best layout for the best views.  Whether you are looking for a place to entertain or a quiet place to read a book, your porch can accommodate whatever mood you are in!

Always one to help out when we can, we’ve decided to assist you in jump starting your creative juices.  And what better way to get inspired than by Lonny, one of our favorite design resource sites.

Take a look at these inspiring spaces that will make you want to head outdoors.

Lonny Magazine

This space above is one of my favorites, I love how the  mounted shovel brings the whole room together.

Lonny Magazine

This above room doesn’t even look like it belongs outdoors.  It reminds me of something you’d see at a resort in South Beach.

Lonny Magazine

The mixed use of style of furniture in this above photo caught my eye.  I love the look of the wooden bench with these garden chairs.

Lonny Magazine

This is the perfect table setting for eating outdoors, the tray allows for easy transferring of drinks and dishes.

We love to share with you the latest outdoor trends hitting the market.  This week we are highlighting a company that is well known to our neighbors to the north.  No not Iowa, think farther north, our friends in Canada.  We are in love with these pillows from the Canadian company Manor12.  The fabrics definitely have a coastal feel that reminds me of summers spent on the shore.

Manor 12

With names like Drift, Cabana and Barnacle its easy to see their maritime influence.

Manor 12

We also love their napkins.  They are perfect complement for those summer al fresco dinners.

Manor 12

If you want to add some nautical design to your outdoor environment, you can purchase these products on the Canadian store Modern Karibou, and yes they do ship to the States.

We are heading into prime outdoor living time.  Pools are now officially open and everyone is spending more time outdoors.  We recently came across  Good Things for Outdoor Living on marthastewart.com and we decided to share a few of our favorite ideas with you.

One of my favorite tips on marthastewart.com is to collect a few apothecary bottles and fill them with lamp oil and wicks, then arrange the bottles under a large hurricane for protection.

In typical Martha Stewart fashion, a gardening center is created using a carpenter’s nail belt.  I love the bucket in the center, perfect for storing larger items or even debris.

Marthastewart.com recommends using tiki torches to bring a little of the islands to  your home.  For a path that is a little less paved you can anchor the torches in a bucket filled with gravel.

For more ideas on sprucing up your outdoors click here.

It looks like it’s going to be a beautiful weekend, so start up the grill and invite some friends and family over to celebrate Memorial Day!  Todd Childs, Assistant Home Editor of Southern Living has some great tips on outdoor entertaining.  Click here to learn a few pointers for throwing a fabulous Memorial Day party!

So last night was the series finale of LOST and I have found a perfect use for those Oceanic airplanes.  Inhabitat.com recently posted about the ec-O benches, made from retired airplanes.   These benches would give any outdoor living space an urban feel.

Inhabitat writes, “Architecture instructor Steven Ma developed an amazing concept bench that infuses nature into pedestrian traffic zones by creating a self-sustaining eco-system that envelops sitters in living and growing plant-life.

The ec-O bench generates electricity through solar panels that are embedded into the top of the extended structure which hovers above the suggested seating area. These panels harness electricity during the day to illuminate the seating area at night. A built-in system collects and filters water that is used for healthy plant growth. As they grow the plants wind around the bench’s circular structure, creating a jungle-like canopy dangling above the user.”

Can’t you see Jack, Kate, Sawyer and Hurley coming across this bench while walking through the jungle!

Architectural Digest recently did a feature titled Garden Rooms.  The beautiful gallery of images features elegant conservatories, atriums and sunrooms that according to AD “celebrate the immediate presence of nature.”  At Outdoor Environments we hope that in providing your custom outdoor living needs we are bringing a little nature into your lives as well.

Below are some of our favorite rooms inspired by nature.

This 1929 Dallas-area residence features a vaulted breakfast pavilion, or conservatory that AD says “resembles a domed tempietto”.

The solarium at The Cloister at Sea Island, in Georgia, was rebuilt by architect Peter Capone, who wanted to capture some of the 1928 original while making sure the guests had all of the benefits of today’s amenities.

The enclosed porch in this weekend residence in southwestern Michigan features walls and ceilings that are done in the same corrugated metal on the house’s exterior.  Architectural Digest writes that “With doors and windows on three sides, the room spills easily onto the lawn.”

“It’s English in style—Lutyens with a Palladian twist,” designer Marshall Watson says of the circa 1897 Summit, New Jersey house.  AD writes that, “A porch at Old Westbury Gardens inspired the conservatory’s airy design. The porcelain-and-gilt chandelier is a reproduction of ones found in the orangery at Versailles.”

For more on the Garden Homes featured in Architectural Digest click here.

For information on how Outdoor Environments can create your own beautiful outdoor living space click here.

The warm weather has arrived and it is now time to enjoy your backyard in all its glory.  At Outdoor Environments we take pride in our finished product and want you to be able to spend as much time outdoors as possible.  And one way to do that is by bringing your exercise regime out.  We pulled a couple of our favorite ways to make your deck multi-functional from Design Milk, read what they have to say below.

The yoga deck

Your deck or outdoor patio is a great place for yoga, whether your alone or with friends.

Also, invest in a set of hand weights so you can also do some strength training in this same space.

The water bike

Bring the joy of your spin class home for the summer season.  This underwater bike from Hydrorider works even in a smaller pool.

The water treadmill

If you are lacking in an Olympic-sized swimming pools, there’s the Swimmill.  Swimmill is the aquatic version of the treadmill as it lets you swim without changing your position. The water current produced by Swimmill is the one that moves. Swimmill allows you to adjust the speed of the water current to satisfy all kinds of swimmers, from beginners to the most advanced. It makes the length of your pool infinite and allows you to enjoy swimming for any time or distance you choose in your own home.

Want to enjoy exercising outdoors all year round.  Move your workouts to your custom built detached porch from Outdoor Environments.  You’ll have the beauty of being outdoors with the warmth of an enclosed structure.

Now off the couch and hit the deck!

We’ve heard about “living walls” before, but “living furniture” is a new one to us.

This grass-covered “sofa”, which debuted at the International Furniture Fair in Milan last week, is called The Mow Chair, and is designed by Lebanese architect Fadi Sarieddine. According to Inhabitat.com, “The sleek, wooden chair provides a fresh take on the traditional bench: a layer of living, organic grass lines the top of the seat, providing a nice grassy cushion for your tired bum.”

Both a bench and a plant, it’s a great way to bring the outdoors in! The Mow Chair is available in one, two or three-seat versions and is produced in Dubai.

Is it possible to transform your beautiful outdoor space without spending a dime? HGTV.com explores ways to get creative by making the most of what you already have.

First up: Play up the unexpected. Below, a chair makes a great alternative to a side table, and its imperfect patina makes it a charming vignette.

Painting a rug on your porch is a money-saving alternative that’s also waterproof and doesn’t need to be cleaned!

Build a living wall by making your cinderblocks moonlight as planters. Just stack and fill!

Other hints: create vignettes with potted plants in varying shapes and heights, and repurposing indoor furniture from the attic for use outside.