Transformational Spaces — Outdoor Form And Function
The Bay Area is rich in outdoor activities, but for most of us, “outside” starts as soon as we open our back door. The spaces we cultivate adjacent to our homes — whether they be yards, decks, porches, verandahs, patios, plazas, or rooftop gardens — are where we commune daily with the natural world. For some, it’s all about a quiet reading nook in an English garden. Others prefer a more festive environs where they can entertain and revel throughout the seasons. Here’s what creative backyard designers are up to.
Refined Finishes
Porches, decks, patios, and even backyards are laid with exotic textiles — rugs, throws, and pillows. Outdoor dining areas are giving way to outdoor reading nooks, tunnels, and children’s forts constructed from aesthetically pleasing natural objects.
Seamless Transitions
Indoor spaces with ambient natural light and verdant landscaping. Outdoor spaces as intimate and comfortable as your living room. There is often a lack of definition between what’s outside and what’s in.
Nouveau BBQs
Barbeque used to be simple; fire up the charcoal and throw some steaks on. But the universe tends toward complexity, and so does barbeque equipment. Today, stodgy old grills are being replaced with high-end machines like charcoal-burning rotisseries, meat smokers, cedar-plank grills, and standalone outdoor pizza ovens.
Backyard Farms
For those with urban homesteading dreams, the backyard farm is getting more sophisticated. Ambitious amateur landscapers are incorporating elements like tomato and squash trellises which double as decorative archways, and aromatic herbs as border plants. Feeling brave? How about honeybees? With a little bit of imagination, even a small yard can transform into an urban farm.
Tower Gardens
Forget about living walls — those beautiful but basically decorative assemblages of succulents and airplants that we seem to see everywhere lately. The new best use of space as far as gardening goes? Tower gardens. These vertical aeroponic growing systems make it possible to grow edibles — vegetables, herbs, flowers — in a small space indoors or out. Sans soil, these systems are beautiful and tidy.
Check out www.towergarden.com and visit our website to see if we have a listing that might fit your outdoor vibes!
