Outdoor Garden Rooms
Californians have been bringing the outdoors inside for many years, but what about the other way around? Bringing the indoors outside!
Karl Lohnes, Canada's most popular decorating advice columnist and a co-host of America's HGTV, 'This Small Space', knows this is a fabulous idea. Creating a living room outside, even if it's just a very small space, is simple, says Lohnes. Lohnes appreciates bringing the indoors outside, which gives the Good Gardener the pleasure of watching over his or her large or small domain. Certainly with Northern California's mild climates using the out of doors for real living makes Good Gardening and decorating sense.
Lohnes predicts that one of the most popular decorating trend, both inside and outside for 2003, will be the use of refreshing and mouthwatering citrus colors. This includes citrus trees themselves, flowers and plants of yellow, orange and green, and fabrics in the same corresponding colors. Fabrics that work best both inside and out are cotton, ultra suede and leather. All clean up and wear beautifully.
Being fashionable does not need to be overly expensive, says Lohnes. Based on that premise, he recommends growing and creating an outdoor garden room to reflect your own personal style and budget. All of Lohnes' 2003 trends are listed below and may be helpful when pursuing this endeavor.
More of Lohnes' Indoor & Outdoor Decorating Trends
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Accessories embellished with BEADS will again be the trend! However, because gold is the new metal for 2003, purchase brilliant gold beaded lamps, pillows, pot covers, candles etc., versus silver or dark bronze beaded colored items. The new neutral wall paint is aqua or sky blue, moving away from camel and taupe colors. Light blue helps pop out those citrus hues.
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Keep decorating modern and simple both inside and out. Oversized wicker furniture is simple and stylish again. Wicker also works great inside or out! Tables of Teakwood can generally make the inside to outside transition easily.
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High tech is flattening out, meaning instead of hiding the large black TV in the armoire, show it off. PLASMA TV screens are very much in style and should be seen.
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Furniture, whether viewed from the front or back, will be attractive from all angles. For instance, the back of the couch isn't necessarily flat or one color. Instead, the back of the couch may be patterned or convex to delineate space.
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When sisal carpet first came into vogue it was used outdoors. Then as bringing the outdoors in became fashionable, sisal became popular inside. In 2003 these rugs are going back outdoors.
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The look of good china and glass goes outside in 2003. Quality acrylics, now widely available, give the appearance of fine glassware.
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Alluring water features as well as important container plantings work well both indoors or outside. Look for lightweight, large and decorative polyurethane pots for container gardens. These features allow the Good Gardener to easily define and grow a custom garden room. In 2003 bring your gardening efforts right up to the house, allowing the colors of the indoor décor to flow outdoors. This color harmony makes an easy transition from inside to outside, which creates a more dramatic and striking effect.
My best,
