When you’re someone who manages and cares for your household and family, you tend to put a lot of thought into shared spaces where you can immerse yourself in family moments and give your family warm fuzzies when they think about home.
In most homes, the kitchen is really the heart of the home, and the playing field spreads out from there. Everyone seems to gather in the kitchen as it’s usually the central place in the house. We cook here, so it’s usually always warm, the people we love gather there, so it makes your heart also warm, and if you have an open plan kitchen, you can chat with the designated family cook and share your day, fulfilling your warm fuzzy quotas.
Imagine if you could open a set of French doors onto an outdoor living space that flows naturally from your indoor living space, bringing you right into nature and expanding your home?
A beautiful multi-level deck built off your kitchen could lead you into a unique personalized living space for all-season fun and memory-making opportunities. You can open up your living space to include the outdoors and find a whole new level of those infamous warm fuzzies!
Let’s explore some of the essentials that will help you to create a special place for your family and friends to enjoy and love.
Transitions
The most successful outdoor spaces feel like a natural extension of the inside design.
In order to do this, you need to think about the ‘flooring’ of your garden:
Lush ornamental grass is nice, but it is often unusable during the muddy thaws of spring or the frozen months of winter. If you save portions of your yard or do some planting in pots, you can move your plants in and out of the house during the right seasons or find gorgeous trees and bushes that give you great color in any season.
The stone paths will help with the temperature by trapping heat during the day, and that will keep the area a bit warmer throughout the seasons. ‘Hardscaping’, a.k.a. stone, brick, or wood, can lay down a solid framework for your space, and you can personalize every facet of the design.
If you use local materials on a multi-level deck, for instance, and lay down a lovely stone path leading to tranquil gardens or a pergola, it provides an enticing, beautiful aesthetic that can be connected to the interior.
Even an outdoor rug that will complement your design inside will make it feel like you are opening the doors into one big room.
Catering To Your Climate
Tailoring the space to your climate with hardy, long-lasting materials will make all the difference.
For one thing, homeowners across the Mid-Atlantic region and Northeast confront a ‘freeze-thaw’ cycle that can wreak havoc in an amateur DIY project. I love some DIY, but when it comes to this kind of engineering, you want to protect your investment.
If you don’t know your soil, you might be caught unaware that the soil expands and contracts to the degree that it can crack thin concrete or move uneven pavers or shift the level of your deck. That’s why it is always better to contact a local expert.
For example, if you were looking for a patio builder in Collegeville PA, they’d stress how important it is to use a deep-set crushed stone base and ensure adequate drainage to avoid water ending up in your basement.
Investing in high-quality masonry that reflects local weather patterns keeps your special space standing for decades, rather than just a few seasons.
Layered Lighting
In the fall and winter, the sun hangs lower in the sky, shadows get longer, and it often drives us inside because the light fades outside. A genuine four-season sanctuary relies on ‘layered lighting’ to throw the shadows back.
Rather than one bright floodlight, set your sights on three layers:
• Path Lighting: Low-to-the-ground LEDs for safety.
• Accent Lighting: Uplights placed at the base of architectural trees (such as Japanese Maples) for added depth.
• Task Lighting: Soft, warm lights above a dining or seating area. Warm-tinted lights (approx 2700K) mimic the glow of a fireplace, creating that “hearth” feeling even if you’re 20 feet from it.
Warmth and Windbreaks
With the weather in November or March, for you to enjoy the outdoors, you also need to track the movement of the air.
Wind is frequently why a patio feels too cold to use:
• Living walls, hedges of laurel or thuja, will break the wind without blocking your views.
• Windbreaks are strategically placed decorative walls that block the wind.
• Portable fire pits are perfect because you can move them to accommodate the wind direction and the crowd.
• A built-in fireplace with a hearth is a great focal point on the deck, and it will serve all seasons, be it for toasting marshmallows, bobbing for apples, or roasting hot dogs.
• Portable outdoor heaters are an added bonus if you are dining outside, playing cards, or watching a movie.
Spending time outside in all weathers helps with cabin fever, stress relief, and your general well-being. A crisp, cool day sitting outside with a hot cup of coffee can do wonders for your health.
Zones
Organize each different area into zones that can benefit from different lighting and special seating:
• The Kitchen/Dining Zone: A specific space for the grill or wood-fired oven. This can be off your indoor kitchen so you can easily transport hot food and drinks from one place to another against the backdrop of a lovely dining table and chairs, or DIY bench seats with comfy cushioning (that also provide storage).
• The Quiet Zone: A corner with a comfortable bench or hammock, ideally shutting out the traffic and noise from the street. This is a great opportunity to hit the thrift stores and seek out DIY projects, or unique, interesting art or statues.
• The Activity Zone: A flat area of grass or soft mulch for children to play a bocci game or a fun game of badminton.
• Social Zone: Comfy couches, soft, warm blankets, and a fireplace (or movie screen) that entice people to put on a sweater and head outside to watch the stars or watch a movie.
When these zones are joined by careful hardscaping, the yard will flow naturally.
Conclusion
The Vision – a four-season sanctuary that begins with you envisioning the kind of life you’d like to lead. You might wish to throw huge summer dinners, or enjoy a quiet coffee by an outdoor fire.
You can have it all, a place to welcome family members, friends, and neighbors while providing opportunities to give everyone warm ,fuzzy feelings and memories that will last forever.
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