3 Airy Living Spaces With Effortless Indoor-Outdoor Flow
Create a seamless connection between home and garden with design ideas that bring in nature
Blurring the boundary between indoor and outdoor spaces can help living spaces feel larger and bring more natural light into homes. The following three homes, including a contemporary beach home in Southern California, a cozy terrace in Oregon and a light-filled addition in London, each offer ideas for creating a seamless connection between indoor and outdoor living spaces. Take a look at the following designs and see if they spark inspiration for creating better indoor-outdoor flow between your living and outdoor space, even if it’s just a tiny terrace or garden.
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The deck sits a step up from the kitchen, accessed through a glass door and appreciated through an extra-large window from inside the home. A vertical window (which you can see on the right wall facing the deck) brings light into the living room and reveals a view of the outdoor fire feature at night.
Design idea: Widening an existing window or swapping a solid door for a glass one can be cost-effective ways to open up a living space to the garden without replacing a wall.
Design idea: Widening an existing window or swapping a solid door for a glass one can be cost-effective ways to open up a living space to the garden without replacing a wall.
In order for the couple to treat the terrace as an extension of their living room, the architects enclosed it by extending the home’s butterfly roof over the deck. Recessed ceiling lights and the warm glow from the fireplace enable them to enjoy it after dark.
See more of this cozy deck
See more of this cozy deck
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2. Courtyard Garden in Southern California
Designers: Michael Lee Architects (architecture) and Jones Landscape (landscape design)
Location: Hermosa Beach, California
Nearly every room in this two-story beach home in Southern California overlooks a stylish interior courtyard, but the open-plan living room has the most seamless transition to the outdoor space. Here, oversize sliding glass doors open to a deck with an inviting outdoor seating area.
Design idea: Use potted plants to blur boundaries between interior and exterior spaces. Notice how your eye moves from the large indoor ficus to the outdoor garden space, while the glass wall practically disappears? Place a large potted plant close to a glass door or large window for a similar boundary-eliminating effect.
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Designers: Michael Lee Architects (architecture) and Jones Landscape (landscape design)
Location: Hermosa Beach, California
Nearly every room in this two-story beach home in Southern California overlooks a stylish interior courtyard, but the open-plan living room has the most seamless transition to the outdoor space. Here, oversize sliding glass doors open to a deck with an inviting outdoor seating area.
Design idea: Use potted plants to blur boundaries between interior and exterior spaces. Notice how your eye moves from the large indoor ficus to the outdoor garden space, while the glass wall practically disappears? Place a large potted plant close to a glass door or large window for a similar boundary-eliminating effect.
Shop for planters and garden pots on Houzz
To further blur boundaries, the design team set the tracks of the sliding glass doors into the flooring, keeping the level flush between the interior concrete floors and exterior ipe wood deck. The ipe, left unstained, will continue to weather to a gray hue — creating further visual seamlessness with time.
See more of this casual courtyard
See more of this casual courtyard
3. Glass Extension in London
Designer: Stephen Turvil Architects
Location: Herne Hill, South London, England
For this rear addition to a London home, the architects brought the outdoors in. They used large sliding glass doors on all sides of the expanded open-plan kitchen and dining space and carved out room in the roof for a skylight to flood the room with natural light.
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Designer: Stephen Turvil Architects
Location: Herne Hill, South London, England
For this rear addition to a London home, the architects brought the outdoors in. They used large sliding glass doors on all sides of the expanded open-plan kitchen and dining space and carved out room in the roof for a skylight to flood the room with natural light.
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On warm days, the glass doors can be drawn aside for a breezy transition from living space to garden. A brick-clad wall ties in the contemporary glass addition with the rest of the house.
Design idea: Repeat materials inside and out for visual unity. Here, the architects used the same floor tile for the kitchen and dining area and the outdoor patio to create a unified look between both spaces.
Tell us: How do you blur the boundary between indoor and outdoor spaces? Share your photos and ideas in the Comments.
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Get inspired by landscape photos
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Designer: Jordan Iverson Signature Homes
Location: Eugene, Oregon
This cozy deck, built into a hillside in Willamette Valley, Oregon, offers a private outdoor retreat for a retired couple. The location of the deck, just outside the kitchen, provides easy access for bringing a plate of nibbles or glasses of wine outside for the homeowners to enjoy by the fire.