Blurring the Lines Between Indoor & Outdoor Living (Home Design Trends of 2022)
We are excited to feature the home design trends article authored by our very own Katie Kovac! The below piece was written for an industry magazine and can be found in its entirety below. Enjoy!
We’ve all looked through a window at the beautiful views surrounding our homes, but somehow still find the two disconnected. When designing and building a custom home, we find that clients are always looking for the perfect integration between the two spaces.
Magnifying the View
One of the best ways to connect indoor and outdoor living is to enlarge the viewing space between the two. The best way to achieve this is by using floor to ceiling sliding glass doors or folding glass doors. This allows both living spaces to feel larger and more connected to one another, especially when the doors are open.
As a custom home designer and builder, we take it a step further by designing pockets in the exterior walls to conceal the sliding glass doors when opened, which ultimately creates an illusion that both spaces are now one large space. However, not everyone can create a hidden pocket for their sliding glass doors, especially if their home design will not allow for enough space on either side of the sliders to accommodate a pocket.
When this is the case, folding glass doors are a great option. With folding glass doors, the panels fold onto one another allowing them to stack to one or both sides of the opening, creating that beautiful oversized indoor/outdoor connection.
Blending the Stage
Another important design feature to further blur the lines between the indoor and outdoor spaces is the floor selection. Choosing the same material for the indoor and outdoor flooring allows the two spaces to flow into one another and appear as one space. Many natural stone and porcelain tile selections in the current market have options for both an indoor and outdoor finish without changing the look of the tile.
But the flooring isn’t the only design element we see when looking out. When installing floor to ceiling windows or doors, matching the indoor and outdoor ceiling colors will add to the illusion. Using the same paint color or a color in the same color family allows the visual connection to continue from one space to another. Lighter colors make the ceilings appear higher and the spaces feel larger, and warmer colors will make the spaces feel cozy.
Finally, it’s important to use the same lighting elements outside that are used on the inside. Matching the recessed can size and trim is important when seaming the two spaces together. And it doesn’t just have to be the recessed cans, light fixtures and ceiling fans can match inside and out too. Many brands have created light fixtures and ceiling fans that can live up to the elements outside, allowing their fixtures to be used inside and outside as well.
By Katie Kovac, Phil Kean Design Group
Photos by Uneek Image