Get ideas for plush seating, durable materials and personal touches to make a sweet summer spot in the shade
1. Balcony
Designer: Bronwyn Poole of Touch Interiors
Location: Santa Monica, California
Homeowners’ request. This balcony patio belongs to designer Bronwyn Poole and her husband and three kids. “I wanted to create a true outdoor room that provided the comfort of an interior space,” Poole says. “I wanted it to be lush and inviting and, most of all, relaxing.” The family previously lived in a condo below this unit, and the patio in that former home is shown in the second project featured in this article.
Special features. Vintage wooden sofa and coffee table. Pergola framing. Hammock. Outdoor rugs. Vintage Gainey Ceramics planters. Hanging pots. View of Santa Monica mountains and palm trees. “We use it more for entertaining these days, because it’s not off the living area,” Poole says. “I tend to find the kids alone reading up here, which is lovely, often on the hammock.”
Designer secret. “It was having the hammock link both spaces successfully,” Poole says. “Without it, the long, narrow space would not feel as integrated or complete.”
2. Semi-Enclosed Patio
Designer: Bronwyn Poole of Touch Interiors
Location: Santa Monica, California
Homeowners’ request. This is the patio in the former condo of designer Bronwyn Poole and her family. They currently live in the unit described above. “This was positioned just off our main living area and was our second family room,” Poole says. “The sun would stream in, and it was the best spot for napping, reading and chatting. Friends and family all gravitated to this room. Many laughs were had there.”
Special features. Vintage brown modular sofa. Tropical plants in handmade ceramic wall planters against a white exterior wall. Pink-and-white outdoor rug. Vintage handmade chairs from Mexico. Vintage rattan bicycle. “Being mostly enclosed and living in California, we could afford to use an indoor sofa, which added next-level comfort,” Poole says.
Designer secret. “It really was having the perfectly sized modular sofa that made the space sing,” Poole says. “Being able to push it against the wall enabled us to add extra setting and create a very communal feel.”
3. Open-Air, Semi-Enclosed Porch
Designers: Emily Cox and Michelle Suddeth of Onyx Design Collaborative, completed while they were at Anderson Studio of Architecture and Design
Location: Kiawah Island, South Carolina
Size: 1,500 square feet (139 square meters); 25 by 60 feet
Homeowners’ request. A multifunctional outdoor living room for dining, grilling and relaxing with ocean views. “While the home is more traditional, the clients wanted this area to have pops of color, some playfulness and to be low-maintenance,” designer Michelle Suddeth says.
Special features. Teak dining table. French limestone floor. Custom copper gas lanterns. Custom outdoor rug. Ipe wood ceiling. Cast-stone fireplace. Stucco walls. Out of view are sitting areas, a TV and a built-in outdoor kitchen with an island.
Designer secret. “With a neutral architectural material palette, we were able to bring in bolder blues, greens and teals though the fabrics and rugs,” Suddeth says.
“Uh-oh” moment. “The wrong limestone was received from France for all of the exterior porches and interior kitchen level,” Suddeth says. “It was mostly installed and had to be ripped up and replaced — all 3,000 square feet of it. Because it is a natural material, the color was very different from our original samples, and it didn’t work with the color palette of the rest of the house. It was a very costly and time-consuming mistake, but we worked hard to make sure the clients got exactly what they were expecting.”
Dining table and chairs: Janus et Cie; copper lanterns: Ferguson Enterprises; outdoor rug: custom, Moattar; outdoor fabrics: Perennials and Pindler; trim paint: Iron Mountain, Benjamin Moore
4. Screened-In Porch
Designer: Ron Brenner
Location: St. Joseph, Minnesota
Size: 221 square feet (21 square meters); 17 by 13 feet
Homeowners’ request. A screened porch that would let in the breezes and take full advantage of the lakeside views. “We positioned the space at the far end of the home to allow for three open walls of screening,” architect Ron Brenner says. “This position also allowed convenient access to the kitchen.”
Designer secret. “The homeowner selected simple furnishings mixed with a variety of antique decorative elements to create a casual, comfortable space for everyday living,” Brenner says.
5. Year-Round Porch
Designers: Rene A. Hoffman and Brian Longenecker of R.A. Hoffman Architects
Location: Lake Keowee, South Carolina
Size: 780 square feet (72 square meters)
Homeowners’ request. “The design was meant to capture a relaxed lakeside lifestyle,” architect Rene Hoffman says. “The angled ends of the screened porch draw the eye to breathtaking views of the lake, which surrounds the house on three sides.”
Special features. Large sofas. Multiple seating areas. TV. Oversize chessboard. Natural ledge stone fireplace. Stained overhead wood beams and plank ceiling. Ceiling fans. Oversized chandelier.
