In the past decade, outdoor design has undergone a transformation as homeowners have demanded outdoor living spaces that connect with their interior decor and provide year-round utility.

“Outdoors is a place to be, not a place to do,” says Jill Waage, group editor of decoration and design for Better Homes & Gardens Special Interest Media. “Entertaining is the lifeblood of outdoor style, with bars, outdoor kitchens and extra-large tables that seat eight to 10 people.”

Waage recently organized a panel discussion on trends in outdoor design that included T. Keller Donovan, a high-profile designer with offices in New York and Miami; Robert Bowden, director of Harry P. Leu Gardens in Orlando; and Lee Menichella, president of Chella Textiles in Santa Barbara, Calif.

These experts met at the Design Center of the Americas in Dania Beach during the facility’s 2006 Fall Market.

All panelists agreed that fashion finally has migrated to the outdoors, causing a major shift in the way consumers design and use their outdoor areas. Gone are the rolling lawns of earlier eras.

In their place are garden rooms complete with kitchens, gazebos and arbors, surrounded by carefully themed gardens.

In today’s world, a garden gnome feels at home only if he’s resting on a plush divan while snacking on appetizers whipped up on the nearby deluxe grill and enjoying the sound of falling water.

Talking textiles

Some of the most exciting developments in outdoor living are because of advances in fabric. The heavy, plastic beige textiles that dominated outdoor furniture for so long have been updated.

Manufacturers, such as Chella Textiles, offer special fabrics that resist fading and mold growth and come in a dizzying array of colors.

Known as solution-dyed acrylics, these relatively new textiles are created through a special manufacturing process that colors threads through and through, rather than applying color only to the surface. The result is a fabric that does not fade, is machine-washable and is available in any color or pattern.

“Designers are thinking beyond indoor and outdoor labels into an integrated lifestyle,” says Menichella. “Design has become interdisciplinary between landscape, architecture and designers.”

Marcy Graham, vice president of sales and marketing for Chella, says solution-dyed acrylics are available in many weights, ranging from sheers to heavier damask tapestries.

This means it is now possible to create outdoor living spaces that use fabric screens and rugs, feature overstuffed, weather-resistant cushions on extra-large sofas, and rely on screening material that resemble draperies.

And color is a must.

In 2007, Waage says designers are turning toward blues of all kinds — Caribbean, electric, deep blues — as well as purples, chocolate browns and oranges.

Tying it together

Of course, no garden is worth its name without plants. Bowden says modern gardens are designed to support the theme created in garden rooms.

And, not coincidentally, water plants represent the fastest-growing segment of plant material on the market. Water brings something to gardens that cannot be duplicated.

The sound of water falling into a shallow pond is an instant signal to relax, to enjoy the surroundings — and it attracts wildlife to your space.

“People seem to enjoy a smaller, themed space. It’s much more intimate,” Bowden says. “Small lawns are not un-American.”

Plant breeders have responded to the demand for interesting plant material with aggressive programs to introduce vigorous new plants. Obvious examples include coleus and impatiens, two species that are now available in a rainbow of hues and can be massed to great effect.

“We’re seeing an incredible variety of plant material in colors and forms,” Bowden says. “All-white gardens are hot and heavy right now. And bird gardens are making a strong comeback.”

To make the most of smaller spaces, more consumers are turning to containers for versatility and vertical features that extend the garden up instead of out. Containers come in thousands of shapes and in a variety of materials, from stone to metal to plastic.

And, as American yards shrink in square footage, consumers are discovering how to use trellises, arbors and verandas to create lush overhead gardens.

Garden art, whether it’s statuary or wall hangings, has a prominent place in modern-day designs. The idea, Bowden says, is to treat your outdoor rooms the same as your indoor rooms.

Schemes for outdoors

And that, Donovan says, means accessorizing.

“People didn’t used to accessorize outside at all,” he says. “Now there are all kinds of things on the market made for that purpose. Now we look for the perfect bowls, the perfect candles. You can put together schemes for outdoors like never before.”

Accessorizing outdoors doesn’t have to be expensive.

“Target now has an aisle of Smith & Hawken outdoor accessories,” Donovan says. “It includes everything from big thermometers to silk flower table arrangements to oversize clocks. And all this stuff is made for the outdoors.”

Fireplaces, too, are an important outdoor accessory. Today, portable fire pits are available in all sorts of styles and shapes, from open bowls to traditional chimeneas.

Donovan says his company frequently uses hurricane candleholders to shelter candles. To anchor them, he fills the bottom of the glass container with sand or decorative pebbles.

Finally, storage is an important element. Consumers need a place to store these oversize cushions and yard accessories when they’re out of town or the weather turns foul.

Many of Donovan’s designs use roomy storage boxes as sitting areas. That way, they’re inconspicuous but close at hand.

source : www.orlandosentinel.com author : Jon Vanzile

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