Some people set up complete, permanent cooking centers as the focus of their outdoor spaces. Others content themselves with a simple grill. In either case, practical planning makes outdoor cooking efficient and more enjoyable, whether it is for the family or a host of guests.

Decide exactly what features you want in the cooking area. Aside [...]

A deck or patio is used most often as a fair-weather family room. Comfortable seating comes first, arranged for conversation as it would be in an indoor room.

Add to this an area for snacking and outdoor recreation. Consider the activities of your household, how and whom you entertain, what your hobbies are, the age [...]

Furniture for outdoor use spans the designs made popular through the centuries. You can select benches similar to those used in Versailles, Adirondack chairs, antebellum wrought iron inspired by Victorian New Orleans, and myriad other choices.

A word of caution: just as decorative birdhouses won’t last outdoors, some furniture with outdoor looks may not stand [...]

Attached outdoor spaces that provide total or partial shelter should be considered an extension of the home’s interior design. In most cases these areas embrace an entrance or serve to join two interior areas—a breezeway, for example. Traffic patterns figure importantly in overall furniture arrangements, as does the selection of furniture, durable fabrics, and other [...]

Pillows, upholstery, slipcovers, shades and blinds, lighting, flooring, and rugs all make a sunroom or a porch lush and comfortable. What you can use depends on how rigorous the weather is on the furnishings.

In a relatively moisture-free hot climate, for instance, sun resistance is the quality you want to look for, but mildew resistance is [...]

It can be irritating to have to circumvent a deck rail or hedge to get to a frequently used destination, such as the potting shed or the barbecue grill. Figuring out potential trouble spots in advance will save you time and aggravation.

To figure out traffic patterns, think about how you will enter this outdoor room. [...]

Free-standing outdoor spaces, such as gazebos or other garden structures, differ from sheltered spaces in several ways.

Generally, they are not seen from the front of the house and are usually integrated with the landscape. Gazebos provide a wonderful opportunity to let loose a little and give in to your more fanciful side.
First, consider how you [...]

. While both balance and harmony are used to achieve unity, too much unity can be, well, boring. That’s where variety and contrast come in handy.

Add interest. By varying the size, shape, color, material, texture, and detail, you can introduce a note of interest or a focal point into the total composition. For instance, placing [...]

Savvy homeowners don’t end their decorating at the door, they keep going to include the decks, porches, sunrooms, and patios that surround their homes.

They treat these spaces as outdoor “rooms” that deserve the attention the other rooms in their homes receive. They choose the best furnishings, colors, textures, and lighting for the space. The [...]

No outdoor living space is completely successful until it is integrated with the surrounding landscape. Just as there are principles for designing interior spaces, there are also guidelines for exterior ones.

If you are choosing a site for a gazebo or a patio, it is one of the most important landscape design decisions you’ll make. If [...]