5 Features To Make the Most of Your Outdoor Room

May 12 2017

5 Features To Make the Most of Your Outdoor Room

Summer is right around the corner, and that means longer days, warmer nights, and a lot more time to enjoy the outdoors. While some people opt for long hikes through the forest to get their nature fix, others prefer to connect with the outdoors from the comfort of their own home. However, you like to spend your summer, having a covered outdoor space is a great way to increase your home’s square footage and enjoy the fresh air with family and friends year-round.

Each outdoor room designed by Urban Oasis takes its cues from the home’s architecture and our clients’ taste, and no two are the same.

Outdoor rooms can be designed to fit a wide variety of needs and functions.  At Urban Oasis we have years of experience designing and building elegant and functional spaces that will benefit our clients for years to come.
If you’re looking to add a covered space to your home in the near future, consider some of these features that will maximize your enjoyment of the space:

Outdoor Kitchens

Summertime in the Pacific Northwest is special.  Most people want to spend as much time outside as possible. Why should cooking be an exception? Outdoor kitchens are great for barbecues and parties and can be built in a number of different ways to best meet your needs. Whether you’re hoping to create a cook’s kitchen such as we designed for our Sammamish Outdoor rooms project, a design that includes the cook in the party, or simply to add counter space and storage, we’ll work with you to create the best solutions. From Memorial Day to Labor Day, it’s hard to beat an outdoor kitchen for a summer barbecue – and sometimes cooking inside creates too much heat.  Of course, under a covered space, the party can begin in the spring and go on well into fall.

Outdoor Fireplaces

 

Even in the summer, our evenings can cool off noticeably.  Why not include the warmth and ambiance of a fireplace to take the chill off your outdoor room.  Whether gas or wood-burning, siting a fire feature to capitalize on views from the inside gives it even more impact.  At our Newcastle Outdoor Room and Patio project, a shady, mucky unusable portion of the yard was transformed into a cozy outdoor space with a spacious patio attached.  This area went from being ignored to being used year-round.
At our Eastside Outdoor Living project, the family watched movies on their big-screen television last Christmas in front of a cozy fire which is supplemented by built-in Infratech heaters.

Let the Light In

 

When cooking outdoors, a little light on the subject is a good idea.  Task lighting, as well as lighting for ambiance, and even lighting that you can read by is all very doable with a little attention to detail.  A cost-effective way to light an outdoor room is through the use of can lights that can be put onto a dimmer switch so that the light level in your outdoor room can match the mood of your party.
Natural light plays a big roll in these outdoor spaces too – it is important to plan for skylights or another strategy to allow sunlight into your interior spaces.  One interesting way to achieve this is to use a louvered structure like the one featured in our Bellevue Modern Outdoor Living project which can let the sun in one moment and keep the rain out the next.  An integrated gutter collects rain from the louvers and directs it into a downspout and into a drainage.

 

Privacy Screens or Walls

 

When a large house was erected next door to this smaller one, privacy became an issue at this Clyde Hill Residence.  The solution became a gabled roof that provided privacy from above and from the side.  Screens, curtains and even fireplace walls can also be incorporated to create privacy in an outdoor room and to protect from wind and elements.

Special Amenities

 

Many of us have limited and even cluttered space within our homes.  Often, a covered outdoor space can gain you the room you need to add a special element you have always wanted.  In this case, our clients had always wanted a pool table, but one just didn’t fit in any of their rooms. Voila!  Urban Oasis created an Outdoor Pool Room complete with heaters, a fireplace and a small outdoor kitchen with a kegerator built-in.  The outdoor pool table even doubles as a dining table as needed.  What have you always dreamed of?  It might just fit into a new outdoor space!

When the weather gets warmer and the days get longer, we look to spend more time outside – why not create a space that extends the seasons you spend outdoors? Covered outdoor rooms are a great way to increase your home’s usable space and create your own urban oasis.

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