Customizing Your Outdoor Living Area

By Epatio Place

When planning an outdoor living space or patio, the most important factor to keep in mind is the view and the atmosphere where you’ll create the space. Pick the place in your outdoor space that you naturally gravitate toward when you go outdoors, whether it is the grill area or your dock on the water, and that will dictate where you start. The only difference is, instead of walls separating the space, the outdoors landscapes and features as well as the open air take center stage.

No matter how comfortable and lavish an outdoor living space may be, the key is using materials that are practical and easy to maintain in the Lowcountry’s humidity and saltwater air. Durable materials such as teak and powder-coated metals work well outdoors along the coast, as do the new synthetic wickers and outdoor fabrics that won’t show wear and work well with a traditional aesthetic. Most often, the most low-maintenance materials are also the most comfortable. Woven mesh that allows you to breathe is also very easy to keep clean and doesn’t require cushion storage. Cushioned furniture is best left to sunrooms and covered cabanas.

Simplified prints, cabana strips and solid colored upholstery with contrasting trims all point to an interest in simplified luxury and a spa aesthetic with vivid, bold colors that are big this year. Just as the color yellow is making a splash in fashion this year, it’s also being brought into outdoor living spaces.

Outdoor living isn’t just for the rich and famous, and people who love the outdoors are taking it to the next step and planning outdoor patio spaces. The marriage of an outdoor living space with a home’s interior has become a main-stay in home design. Summers will be more special spent outdoors with comfortable and functional living spaces you’l l want to use everyday.

Excepts of this article are from Savannah Magazine’s May/June 08’ issue

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