When building a deck it is important to understand the process frame by frame.
Below are a series of photos for a two level low profile to be finished with AZEK composite decking.
End of day three!
End of day four!Every outdoor living space is unique to its environment. When we design an outdoor living area, we not only incorporate the materials used on the project, but we are also bringing in the home’s natural setting.
Jonathan Parks’ recently wrote an article called Five Pillars of Design for Outdoor Living for Residential Design & Build magazine. Take a look below and see if your outdoor living space is following the rules.
Pillar 1:
Invent within the rules
- Does the outdoor living space demonstrate style, proportion and consistency?
- When viewed from any angle, is it a unified solution?
- Does it give evidence of its quality and care over detail?
- Is it inviting?
Pillar 2:
Respect, complement nature
- Is the design responsible to the environment?
- Does the outdoor living space respect and complement views from within the yard and from within the dwelling?
- Does the new ground plane show careful integration of natural and manmade elements?
- Is existing landscape material utilized?
- Is new material sensitive to the natural terrain?
- Are colors, styles and materials comfortably distinct — ensuring individuality without offending the senses?
Pillar 3:
Build for the ages
- Is the solution long-lasting?
- Will the design date the house or will it appear as appropriate tomorrow as today?
- Does the design follow through to the smallest detail?
Pillar 4:
Detail for authenticity
- Does the outdoor space respond to the individual intimately?
- Does the design process follow through to the smallest detail?
- Does the construction involve a need for craftsmanship?
Pillar 5:
Incorporate convenience
- Does the plan encourage a quality of lifestyle?
- Does the design capitalize on features of volume, scale and functional relationships?
- Is it technically “state-of-the-art” to ensure gracious outdoor living?
What do you think of Parks’ pillars?
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!
How would you like to sit outdoors in your custom made arbor or pergola this summer? Outdoor living structures are the perfect place to relax either by the pool or dining al fresco. We love creating an outdoor living space that suits your everyday life.
Click here to visit our website to see more of our work.
Technology is constantly changing and the researchers at the University of California, San Diego are trying to come up with a way to embed tiny sensors in your cell phone that can detect toxic chemicals in the air. These silicon chips will be able to map the locations of these chemicals and alert emergency responders as well as you. How’s that for an iPhone app?
According to Inhabitat.com, “Michael Sailor and his team at UC San Diego along with startup company Rhevision Technology, Inc. recently completed the tech’s first phase of development. Now, they’re working on a prototype that can work with a cell phone.”
How it works: A tiny, silicon chip is embedded into your cell phone. The device will change color when it detects harmful chemicals, alerting you and emergency responders.
Currently the chip can only identify a handful of chemicals, but researchers are optimistic about its future.
Outdoor lighting can turn your backyard into a beautiful moon lit night every night. Below are some useful tips from Ligthing.com to help you recreate the romantic glow of a perfect evening.
Down Lighting: Place spotlights high up in trees, positioned out of sight. These fixtures shine down to illuminate interesting tree details while lighting the area closely surrounding the tree.
Shadow Lighting: Lights are placed to cast shadows produced from trees, sculpture or other landscape details. These shadows are reminiscent of the contrasting light play the full moon creates.
Up Lighting: Placing lights at the base of structures or trees provides dramatic illumination that captures attention.
Mood Lighting: Working with a mix of lighting intensities, you can set the mood and sculpt your surroundings with light. Layers of soft-washed light, blended with stark shadows and bright spots, captivate the eye.
Moon Lighting: Hide flood lights high up in trees to wash larger areas with light, replicating the shine of the full moon. Angle lights from a series of locations to achieve the best effect.
We are looking forward to Paula S. Wallace, president and co-founder of SCAD, latest book- Perfect Porches: Designing Welcoming Spaces for Outdoor Living (Random House). According to Wallace, “a well-designed porch is like a welcoming committee that invites friends and family to share stories, catch up on neighborhood news or quietly enjoy the breezes of a sultry summer evening. Porches bridge our public and private worlds, conveying the essence of one’s home.” Perfect Porches perfectly illustrates the variations of porches throughout our country with more than 250 stunning photographs. Random House writes, “Whether you seek to reawaken a cherished memory of a childhood porch, create an adorned haven of your own, or take an enlightening journey across the nation, this volume is certain to become a treasured companion as well as a source of fresh inspiration.”
Here at Outdoor Environments we love awakening a love of outdoor living in our clients. Our passion for building and design are rooted in helping you unleash the beauty of your natural surroundings. Below are some porches that we designed and built for our clients to help them create their own welcoming outdoor space.
What is your favorite memory of a cherished childhood porch? Mine is of my grandmother rocking me to sleep on her porch that overlooked the Blue Ridge Mountains.
Hopefully by now you have taken advantage of the nice weather and started using your grill more this season. Keeping your grill clean is one of the secrets of great grilling, that and Dad’s secret BBQ recipe. Cleaning not only avoids having last night’s steak marinade on tonight’s salmon, but it also extends the life of your grill. Below are 6 tips on how to clean your grill.
Remember to clean your grill regularly, same as you do your stovetops, and there will be less wear and tear on your grill. Happy Grilling!
If there is no helping your grill and you are looking to purchase a new one, let Outdoor Environments help, take a look at some of our grill enclosures below.
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.
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7304 Black Oak Circle
Stillwell, KS 66085
913-897-2706
