Living is rarely contained inside the walls of a house. Especially in the South, porch swings, rocking chairs, gardens, and cookouts all encourage us to venture outside, making our outdoor living spaces as valuable to our home life as a cozy living room. As designer Charlotte Moss recently commented in our May/June issue, “The garden is the picture frame to your house. You can’t consider one without considering the other.” From porches and patios to stone paths and garden fixtures, here are five of our favorite ways to enhance the open-air areas of your home.
1. Making Rooms
Think about purpose as well as aesthetics in crafting outdoor “rooms.” Areas for reading or reflection, for example, call for shade and comfortable seating. Open gardens loosely defined by stone walks and living walls create ample entertaining space and expansive views of nature.
