In the last couple of decades weíve become more sensitive to the challenges posed by steps to those who are mobility impaired, but there are still many situations in which a change of level is desirable to create a particular spatial effect.
Positioning windows to maximize light and views helps create an appealing space.
Most people conceive of an outdoor room as a porch, screened or not, attached to the house. If just one side is open to the elements, it hardly feels like outdoors at all. Three open sides and we really start to feel the connection with our surroundings. We are projected out into the landscape, but thereís still a strong connection to the house.
When speaking about visual weight, we need to talk about color, but not in the conventional way. Color preferences vary enormously from person to person and are beyond the scope of our experience of space, and it's this characteristic that we'll discuss here.
What do we mean by the landscape of home? It's not only the gardens, but also the views and vistas, and the walkways and thresholds that let you feel at home on your land. Of course, your house is part of this landscape, too. How do you decide when to use these elements? You begin by realizing that designing your landscape is not so different from designing your house.
