Breaking Down Barriers: Tips for Integrating Indoor and Outdoor Spaces

How can you extend your living space while getting in touch with nature? Although the two may not seem to go together, you can enjoy the outdoors while inhabiting a comfortable and viable area. Integrating indoor and outdoor spaces not only gives you, your family, and guests more room to spread out.

Along with the additional “elbow room,” areas that bring the outdoor elements inside provide numerous benefits that go beyond aesthetics. Research has shown that combining nature with your home’s interior helps to lessen stress and provide more tranquility, thus improving your overall mental well-being.

Design Techniques for Integrating Indoor and Outdoor Spaces

Melding outdoor views and elements with your indoor space don’t require a complex renovation project. With a few of these simple, design tactics, your yard or garden can feel like an extension of your family room.

Floor-to-ceiling windows 

Gargantuan windows that reach from the floor to the ceiling give the impression of being in a spacious, cheerful habitat that brings in the best of the outdoors. With clean lines that compliment any interior décor, you can blur the boundaries between the outside area and the indoor room.

Plus, you can opt for either operable or inoperable windows if you’d like to let a cool breeze or simply enjoy the gorgeous view while keeping wind, bugs, and precipitation in their place. Moreover, you can relish in the abundance of natural light that’s likely to span the entire floor.

Sliding Doors

Sliding doors no longer consist of the same, simple designs that your grandparents once had. You have an array of options, including bottom-sliding doors and top-sliding doors. Do you have a curved wall? A frame and track for a sliding door can easily be designed and engineered to fit spaces with unusual shapes. Some models also come with a mesh screen that allows fresh air to come in while keeping the bugs out.

Another added benefit is that sliding doors can be easily integrated into a room with floor-to-ceiling windows with some creative framework. By giving easy access to the patio area and ramping up your indoor ventilation and natural lighting, sliding doors prove to be an excellent strategy for combining indoor and outdoor spaces. 

large patio doors

Another addition that combines nature, your courtyard area, and the rest of the family room is a set of large patio doors. Whether you opt for a straight-stacked or pocket-style door, you’re not only saving space but providing an eye-catching entrance from the patio.

Or for a unique, modern design, you can choose a set of folding glass doors which also pair well with floor-to-ceiling windows. However, either type of patio door works well when installed into a solid wall since they both allow for easy access to the patio, a broad view of the outdoors, and plenty of natural light and ventilation.

Decorative Elements for Integrating Indoor and Outdoor Spaces

In addition to working with your home’s architectural structure by adding various types of windows and doors, you can incorporate elements of nature with your interior décor.

Color Schemes

By choosing from a nature-inspired palette, you easily give the feeling of being outside even when you’re sitting in one of the interior rooms. This design strategy involves choosing natural colors that mimic the outdoors or wallpaper with a print that resembles a meadow or even the jungle. For instance, light green combined with gray gives your room a relaxed, organic look.

Likewise, strategically placed earth tones, like tan, rust, and brown, give a room warmth while calling to mind the image of trees. Plus, vibrant shades of yellow, blue, and green (think of lime or kiwi) may remind you of a garden in springtime.

Whatever color scheme you choose, keep in mind that you can apply that to your outdoor space as well. This would create some seamless continuity between your home’s interior and exterior.

Furniture

There are several ways you can use furniture to combine your indoor and outdoor areas into one spacious hangout. For instance, you can incorporate natural materials or furniture sets that can be used for both a sunroom and a patio. Wicker and rattan chairs and table bases work well for both indoor and outdoor use. Or if you have an attractive, modern minimalist set in your family that opens out to the patio, you can incorporate the same style of furniture for the outdoor seating—but with cushions made from sturdy canvas.

Lighting

For year-round entertaining outdoors, lighting offers a solution that’s practical and visually appealing. As an illustration, if your dining room offers immediate access to the covered patio or veranda, matching ceiling fans, or coordinating light fixtures.

For the cold weather months, a fire pit or an outdoor fireplace offers extra warmth—along with a heat source for toasting marshmallows. For additional comfort and lighting, you can also include some patio heat lamps. Add some incandescent bulbs around the porch or pergola, you can create a festive setting.

Conclusion

With these aforementioned ideas, you can start adding open rooms and comfortable outdoor spaces that create one big living area. By redesigning your windows and doors to provide quick access to the backyard, you create a cheerful and aesthetically pleasing atmosphere (not to mention how much you’ll save on electricity with all the natural lighting). Plus, you can take this indoor/outdoor combination a step further with creative decorating and eye-catching furniture, lights, and accents. The sky is the limit to what you can do.

Looking for more ideas? Check out our portfolio. We design and construct flagstone patios, concrete patios, outdoor kitchens, outdoor fireplaces, and more. Allow us to help you design the ideal space that integrates your outdoor space with your home’s interior.