With summer in full swing, chances are your clients are spending more time outdoors than ever—and likely turning to you to help them do so in style.

“Everyone wants to have an outdoor connection,” says Craig McMahon, president of San Antonio-based Craig McMahon Architects. “People are embracing their outdoor experience and wanting it to be more a part of their home.”

Mark McInturff, founder of Bethesda, Md.-based McInturff Architects, seconds that. “People are paying much more attention to outdoor living spaces in general, and to how the house opens to those spaces.”

For most homeowners, a basic sliding door leading out to the patio won’t cut it anymore. With outdoor spaces in demand, homeowners are investing more and looking to make them more luxurious, attractive, and customized than ever. According to the 2017 U.S. Houzz Landscape Trends Study, which surveyed 1,000 Houzz users, 85% of homeowners undertaking an outdoor renovation opted for a major renovation or a complete overhaul. And of those who chose a complete remodel, 55% spent more than $15,000 to do so.

Here’s what to keep in mind on your next outdoor project.

Keep it Connected

Increasingly, homeowners aren’t thinking of the exterior as a separate entity. Instead, they want their indoor and outdoor areas to blend into a unified space for relaxing, dining, and entertaining.

A key element to accomplish this effect is creating one of the extra-large openings that have skyrocketed in popularity in recent years. Because of that boost, the options have grown accordingly, with options like folding glass walls and pocket sliding doors now available from almost every major window manufacturer, says McInturff.

“The technology has gone through the ceiling in the last decade in terms of how you remove a wall from your view,” he adds. “That’s what you’re seeing a lot of, because we’re all sort of blown away that you can do that.”

McMahon agrees, adding that the increase in product knowledge and technological capability has led to a drop in pricing that makes the amenity more attainable. “It really has offered an opportunity to have this complete glass connection.”

Materials selection is also crucial to crafting a seamless space. McInturff and McMahon both emphasize the importance of keeping flooring and finishes as cohesive as possible. “People want to bring stone finishes that you would typically do on the outside porch right into the living room,” McMahon says. “When that material crosses, people feel like it is one home experience.” He also sees this trend carry over to wood-beamed ceiling treatments that match the exterior wood finishes.

If it isn’t possible to do a continuation of materials—for example, if the client has their heart set on a hardwood floor—McInturff suggests creating as close a match as possible by using a similar color and plank style.

Keep it Protected
Though clients may want their exteriors to feel as much like the interiors as possible, the fact remains that outdoor rooms by their very nature (literally) require extra planning to account for the impact of the elements.

Both McMahon and McInturff cite an increase in requests for screened porches, which give homeowners access to the outdoors while providing a level of protection from bugs, rain, and wind. “Screened porches are huge,” says McMahon. He’s seen the trend spread from the living space, with people asking for screened sleeping porches added onto the master suite.

“You can make them convertible, with screens that retract,” adds McInturff. “We’ve done a number of [those].”

Guarding against the elements also includes being aware of the sun’s impact. “Shade might be more critical now than people once thought it was,” McInturff says. “People don’t slather up in suntan lotion and go out and lie prone on the terrace anymore.”

To provide that protection, it’s important to pay attention to the site configuration from the get-go, says McMahon. “Avoid the west if you can, because it’s just not great to have the sun beating down on you in August, no matter where you live. Shade is critical, and the breeze will help if we can orient the outdoor experience so it’s coming across [the space.]”

In his mid-Atlantic climate, McInturff also sees clients who are seeking amenities that counteract the cold, requesting outdoor fireplaces or heaters that keep exterior spaces usable throughout most of the year.

Keep it Comfortable
Overall, the new outdoor space is designed to be an oasis for the owner. And while clients with smaller yards may think that they can’t take advantage, this misconception couldn’t be further from the truth.

“This is where it gets really fun for us,” McMahon says. “We get these all the time—‘I only have a 20-foot by 20-foot little backyard, what can I do with it?’”

Though the square footage may be small, the options available aren’t, he adds. “There’s been sort of an explosion of the micro-backyard. You’re spending money on a smaller area, so people typically spend more per inch.” That allows for the layering of different materials like metals and concrete with natural elements like bamboo, moss, and, in McMahon’s Southwest locale, cactuses. The overall effect, he says, is “almost a Japanese Zen garden approach.”

McInturff also cites Japanese influence in small yards with the philosophy of “the borrowed landscape,” where a smaller space uses views or elements of a surrounding larger one in order to create a feeling of expansiveness. The visual trick helps balance a sense of openness with some of the advantages of a smaller space, he says.

“I prefer small gardens to a large garden—it’s more comfortable,” McInturff says. “It’s an outdoor room. A really big garden is just a yard. But if it’s an outdoor room, then the walls of the room really count.” With that in mind, he adds, just slapping up a simple wooden fence won’t cut it.

That ties back to the trend McMahon has seen taking off in small spaces in particular, where clients are interested in exploring a variety of materials and systems, from drip irrigation to new and improved Astroturf surfaces, he says.

Clients are also interested in options that allow them to maximize space for entertaining, including mini plunge-pools and fire pits. Another popular option is to use the space atop a detached garage to create a rooftop deck. “There’s so little space on these smaller lots to work with that every inch counts,” McMahon says.
Ultimately, making a successful exterior project in a small space relies on the same central tenet for any other project: the indoor/outdoor connection. As McInturff points out, “the more you unify the interior and exterior, the larger they both feel.”