Creative Outdoor Rooms in your Garden or Yard
First, how about a tiny corner (or other secluded spot) to sling a hammock. Be sure to hang it from two sturdy trees or from an arbor. If you place it under an arbor, you’ll have built in shade. Add a small table next to it to hold that cold brew and book to read. (Remember to look at yard sales for various items to put in your outdoor rooms. A few years ago I paid a dollar for a small rattan stool/table. Sturdy enough to sit on, tiny enough to make it a short table – perfect size while reclining on a chaise lounge – to hold my glass of iced tea and a magazine.
Remember, a deck doesn’t have to be attached to the house. If you have enough room, you can build a deck away from the house. This can be an area to place a couple of chairs so you can relax, read, etc, or large enough to hold a table with chairs for dining al fresco. Be sure the deck floor is raised at least six to eight inches off the ground to prevent wood rot and help to eliminate dampness. You might attach short sections of lattice to prevent small animals from nesting under the deck. Some very small plants or ground cover along this border would look attractive.
You’ll need some lighting in some of these outdoor rooms. Tiki torches along a fence would look festive for parties but a little inconvenient for everyday use. Colorful lanterns can be hung from sturdy tree branches or an arbor. Little white lights can be very attractive also. I have my two outdoor columns (supporting the patio roof), wrapped with these lights. When I have company I turn them on; I even use when I’m just entertaining inside. Candles are ok to use providing they are inside glass containers and are not left lit unsupervised.
Lighting also provides some safety when navigating through the garden at dark. Solar lights will shine until the wee hours of the morning and you can purchase flat ones which can be put beside a path. Lights on post stuck into the corners of the yard also look very attractive; there are many styles to choose from.
Enclosures define our outdoor rooms. You can hang netting (attractive) from the sides of a gazebo, or buy a wrought iron gazebo with canvas top and sides made of netting (or mesh) These will either tie up, zip up, or can be fastened with velcro. The advantage to using closures, is it really does keep the insects out while letting air in. You can also hang curtains from a rod using attractive curtain hooks (try inexpensive shower curtain hooks.)
Not every garden and/or patio is large enough for several rooms. Create a private space by putting a small cafÃ?© size table and one or two chairs in a section of the garden for a tiny “room.” A colorful potted plant on the table will add to the dÃ?©cor. Or, a straw hat decorated with silk flowers and ribbon.
Noise can be very distracting if you’re near a street or other noise (airports). My back yard backs up to a main road which will get more and more traffic as people build more homes out this way. I’m now planting vines to go along the top of my fence and will add three or four trees along the back (small ones, narrow yard) to help soften the traffic sounds. This will also provide additional privacy on the top of my fence.
If you have a large patio, you can “separate” it into two rooms, by using plants as a screen. Tall plants in pots or plants trained to climb a trellis will help divide the two rooms. Curtains, which can be tied back when necessary, can also divide the rooms. You can also arrange the furniture to create a division between the rooms.
You might fence off a portion of the yard to create a special garden. It can be a vegetable or herb garden, or a cutting garden. If it’s a cutting garden, you might ad add a chair to relax on or even a potting table with some tools you use when you’re working in the back yard. White picket fencing always looks attractive, or a black wrought iron fence.
Consider shade for your dining area. If you don’t have a covered patio, consider an awning to go over your eating area. Or, put up a metal canopy (can be purchased at a swap meet for about forty dollars and disguise the poles by wrapping a silk vine around the four poles Then place a nice canvas cover over it, fastening it with bungee cords (you’ll need to put grommets on the canvas cover. Umbrellas are good for shade because they can be moved around, but not as effective for a dining area because they’re fairly small.
Look at your old furniture – you might find something that will work great in your back yard, orm even, a front porch area. That old sofa might be great in the backyard (you’ll need to have a cover over it in winter), add a few throw pillows and, voila! an outdoor living room. Old metal chairs – buy some chair pads to tie on the seats and you’re good to go. You can even paint them in great looking colors to match your outdoor color scheme.
