Rethinking outdoors
Paying attention to outside spaces can help you feel less cooped up during pandemic
Coronavirus quarantine had many people rethinking the interiors of their homes this spring. DIY projects were tackled, and rooms reorganized.
Now that summer’s here, why not give the same mini-makeover to backyards and outdoor spaces?
You’ll feel less cooped up if you bring some indoor style outside, even if it’s just to a tiny balcony or front porch, says New Jersey interior designer Anna Maria Mannarino.
“You’re expanding the real estate really by bringing the indoors out,” Mannarino says.
Here, she and two other design experts — Connecticut landscape architect Janice Parker and Houston interior designer Lauren Rottet — share advice on how they create stylish outdoor spaces that can accommodate a range of activities, from cooking and socially distant entertaining to relaxing and working from home.
Comfort and coziness
don’t normally keep a table outside, Rottet suggests bringing out a small folding table when you want to dine or work outside. Add a crisp linen tablecloth, she says, and even an inexpensive card table will look special.
Layering the space with pillows and a throw blanket for evenings adds a cozy vibe. Choose pillows and cushions in an outdoor-friendly fabric like Sunbrella, which needs little care to stay looking and feeling good throughout the seasons, Mannarino says.
“And I would definitely add an outdoor rug if you have the space to do it,” she says.
If you don’t want to buy an outdoor rug, Parker says, just bring out a throw rug from inside to use on a sunny day.
Sounds and scents
The sounds of rippling water or birdsong can be great antidotes to traffic or barking dogs. Parker suggests buying an inexpensive tabletop fountain, and bird feeders to attract songbirds.
“It’s a great time to get into bird watching,” she says, “because they do seem to be more abundant than in the past.”
There’s an even simpler, virtual option, Parker points out: When you sit outside, play recordings of chirping birds or rippling water from your phone or other device.
Pleasing scents will also elevate your outdoor space. Buy a potted lavender plant, Parker says, or flowering plants like nicotiana (also called “flowering tobacco”), which “are iridescent in the evening and have a wonderful scent.”
Many grocery stores are selling potted plants and “you don’t have to fuss with repotting them,” Parker says. If they come in plain plastic containers, simply wrap the container in a bit of burlap or other fabric to make it more attractive.
For something more dramatic, Rottet says, potted citrus trees look and smell lovely. Or add a pencil cactus or other succulent in a tall planter; it can withstand summer heat while functioning like a sculpture in your outdoor space. When summer ends, fill the planter with a hardy flower like pansies, which might even last through the winter.
No time or resources to add plants this year? Floral or lavender candles are another option, Parker says.
Dining and cooking
A gas grill can be an asset if you’re cooking outdoors a lot. But Rottet also recommends
the Big Green Egg charcoal grill. “It’s not a huge commitment,” she says, “because you can roll it into a tight little space.”
If you have a grill and would like to create more of a kitchen around it, add an outdoor table or console that can serve as a work surface and perhaps has some storage, Mannarino says, “so you’re not just walking over to a grill and holding a tray in your hand.”
Want to create the feel of an outdoor bar? Add a rolling bar cart, or, even more simply, fill your biggest salad bowl with ice, Parker says, and bring out a selection of cold drinks.
Sunshine and shade
If you’re working outside, you need shade to see the screen. Retractable awnings are helpful, as are large outdoor umbrellas that stand alone or fit into an outdoor table. (They also let you spend more time outside, if it’s raining.)
In the evening, Rottet says, you can expand the feeling of even a small backyard by wrapping strands of small white lights (available in outdoor-safe versions that are battery powered or solar powered) around your trees.
Lanterns with lit candles inside are lovely outdoors after the sun goes down, though LED candles can be a more practical choice on a breezy night.
A fire pit will also brighten up your outdoor space, and warm it up this fall and winter.
Rottet created one for her Houston home using a large concrete planter that can withstand heat.
But as Parker points out, you don’t have to buy anything to have a fire pit. It might be fun to create one the old-school way: Dig a wide hole in the ground, she says, contain the space safely and build a campfire “boy scout style.”
The changes you make to your outdoor space don’t have to be elaborate, she says. “Just get out there. Take your chair from the kitchen table if you need to. Take your coffee cup and go.”