Image above sourced from Go Home Design.com
Summer is here and I am obsessed this month with patio living. Our outdoor spaces are all-too-often ignored or overlooked but they can be as much of an expression of ourselves as any interior in our homes.
Flowers
In my last post on spring I shared my passion for birds and butterflies. Clearly, I am still on a nature kick as you will see with this post. First: flowers. What better way to slip some summer into your patio than to add flowers? This example is from the Cordoba Patio festival and is definitely a little over-the-top but I love that it is literally as easy as taking dozens of plant pots and filling them with bright-colored blooms. So simple! You too could create your own little piece of Spain in your backyard.
Image © East of Malaga.net
Fire
One of the most effective things you can do to add drama to your patio is to bring in an element of fire. As an interior designer I have been extremely impressed with the products from EcoSmart Fires. Check out some of the images below of their products. Who could not dream of having the warm glow of leaping flames reflecting off the faces of friends and family as you chat over drinks on your patio?
Image © EcoSmart Fires
Image © EcoSmart Fires
Image © EcoSmart Fires
Asian Themed
I have a passion for Japanese gardens. The specificity and attention to detail makes them feel more like living sculptures or artworks than your average rambling back yard. Even adding a few asian details, adding bamboo, or keeping the aesthetic clean and simple, can bring an exotic touch to your patio area.
Image sourced from Go Home Design.com
Image sourced from Go Home Design.com
Image sourced from Go Home Design.com
Which brings me to the buddha: it’s probably in the land of cliché at this point but there is something inspiring about adding a buddha to your patio that instantly transforms the space into something calm, tranquil and restorative.
Images L-R © reserved
Color
For those of you who have been following this blog, you know that I am an enormous fan of color – and of pillows. In a post about throw pillows, I talk about how changing the pillows in your home can change everything. Well, that’s certainly true when it comes to adding some bright pops of color to your patio furniture.
Image © reserved
Image sourced from Go Home Design.com
Kouboo.comcarries some charming pillows, both sophisticated and fun. I am particularly fond of the pink pillow – but those seahorses would be a real conversation piece in the right home.
Image © kouboo.com. llc
Lastly, I don’t know if this image is of a patio, it’s really more like a deck. I do know that I would be in heaven if I could sit in those chairs, with a drink in hand and look past the simple plants to that magnificent ocean beyond.
Image © reserved
Let me know if you have a patio that you love and live in. I know that I will be taking another look at the space behind my house and reconsidering the furniture. Perhaps I’ll even add a few pots of flowers. After all, summer is here and that is something to celebrate.
Written by Catherine Holliss
Interior Design Blog Writer, Kouboo.com, LLC
Director of Interior Design, Sander Architects LLC.
Photographs © Catherine Holliss unless otherwise noted.
All other photographs © owner / photographer.
Blog Post © KOUBOO LLC. All rights reserved
