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May 2008 Issue
- Creating Outdoor Living Space
- Outdoor Kitchens
- Outdoor Fireplaces, the Hottest Trend
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Creating Outdoor Rooms |
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With spring's arrival and warmer temperatures enticing us outdoors, many of us begin living and entertaining in our backyards over the next few months. You can add comfort, beauty and style to your time outside in a number of ways.
Instead of viewing your exterior spaces as simply decks or patios, try viewing them as "rooms." In the following articles, we detail how an outdoor living room, for example, can be created using grass, and mulch as floors, hedges for walls, and canvas canopies as ceilings. An outdoor kitchen can be created with a grill, sink and under-the-counter style refrigerator. The most popular new trend is adding firepits or outdoor fireplaces to the exterior "rooms."
We hope these ideas help you create an ambiance for extending your enjoyment of gathering outside with family and friends.
Enjoy,
Tish Lewis and the Currier Design Team
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Divide and Conquer: Creating Outdoor Living Spaces
Why stay cooped up inside when you can extend the livable portion of your property by creating outdoor living spaces? It certainly isn't difficult to build outdoor living spaces. But it does take an appreciation for the "divide and conquer" approach.
We take it for granted that our houses are divided into rooms, but the concept of having similar "outdoor living spaces" may sound odd, at first. Indeed, the biggest obstacle standing in most people's way is that it just doesn't occur to them to divide up a yard so as to maximize their enjoyment of it.
"This article has some great ideas for designing your outdoor room." Mirtha Jimenez
Complete article: (Web Version) (PDF Version)
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Outdoor Kitchens
Outdoor kitchens have been rapidly gaining in popularity, which should come as no surprise. Seems like it gets harder to gather the family around the dinner table at night, but when you’re talking about a barbecue, the “whole fam damily” likes to show up! Even if you think an outdoor kitchen is too far from your budget, you may be surprised at just how affordable it can be.
"Everyone loves a cookout. What fun to have an outdoor kitchen to make it even simpler to entertain." Casey Caruso
Complete Article (Web Version) (PDF Version) |
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Outdoor Fireplaces, the Hottest Trend
Humanity has been fascinated with fire since its discovery. Its warmth and comfort is nourishing, and its random dancing and constant movement can be absolutely mesmerizing. It is not surprising that over half of all U. S. households (55 million) have at least one fireplace or freestanding stove. What might be surprising, however, is the large number of people who are leaving their warm cocoons and heading outdoors to their outside fireplaces to cook, congregate, and enjoy its ambiance.
"Fireplaces are a great way to enjoy the outdoors when the nights start to become cooler." Kris Naumann
Complete Article (Web Version) (PDF Version) |
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