Homeowners bringing indoor comforts to patios
Today’s patio space is likely to take shape as an extension of a home’s interior, a fact reflected in trends in patio furnishings, design and accessories.
Contemporary patio design frequently aims to extend interior living space, said Diane Warnock, custom container designer at Gulley Greenhouse in Fort Collins.
“A lot of new homes today have so much glass,” she said. “When you’re inside the home, you can see the deck or patio. So designers try to carry the interior colors outside.”
Blurring the lines between inside and out lends the illusion of more living space.
“What you’re trying to do is create a space or a room that is outside,´ said Shannon Thompson of Custom Landscaping in Fort Collins. Thompson’s business frequently designs and installs patios for area residents.
Reflecting a continuing trend among homeowners today to create peaceful, relaxing retreats at home, Thompson said consumers are looking for larger patios with more space for seating and more room for relaxing outdoors.
Easy-to-care-for materials
They want easy-to-care-for materials such as flagstone or synthetic decking, Thompson said. Flagstone is particularly popular right now, he said.
“Flagstone is the new thing. A couple of years ago, it was brick paver patios that everyone wanted.” Today, tightly spaced flagstone in colors ranging from buff or beige to red is in demand.
In general, Thompson said, people are looking for “natural, soothing, calming colors” in their outdoor spaces.
The riotous rainbow colors popular in container gardens in recent years are giving way to monochromatic plantings in cooler colors, Warnock said.
“Colorwise, the magazines have been showing more harmonizing colors: peaceful blues, greens, purples ? coordinated, rather than all different, jumbled-up colors.”
Warnock said that shift points to a search for calmness and simplicity at home, as well as the fact that there are so many new homes with few or no trees and little in the way of landscaping. Homeowners are looking for ways to “simmer down the sun,” she said.
At the opposite end of the spectrum, orange also looks to be a force in patio color trends this year, Warnock said. Monochromatic arrangements keying on orange can add light to shadier patio spaces.
Comfort and function drive the look of patio furnishings, said Jeremy Arnold, manager of Alpine Haus Patio & Grill in Fort Collins. “Right now, I would say we mainly do a lot of tubular steel furniture with slingbacks. … I would say the big thing right now is bringing inside comforts to the outside with a lot more cushioned furniture, padded slings and that type of thing.”
Five-piece patio sets featuring a table and four matching chairs are the store’s most-popular product.
Arnold said customers tend to gravitate toward sleeker, contemporary styles in earth-tone colors.
Southwestern designs fading
The once-popular Southwestern design style is fading to the background in favor of design themes with Oriental or Asian influences.
Thompson said a patio’s overall design is likely to be shaped by the specific home it is adjacent to and the terrain in which it is set. In general, consumers are seeking curving lines and softer, rounded shapes for their patio footprints, he said. “People want curves and nice contours,” he said.
Plants in beds and containers in and around patio spaces continue to be an essential element of patio design, Thompson said. They are important from both a functional and aesthetic point of view. “You don’t want to create a heat sink in your back yard. If you do, you’re not going to like it,” he said.
Plants and plantings provide shade, as well as add color and soften the outlines of a patio. Shade trees, vines, flowering shrubs and perennial plantings are all popular elements of today’s patio design.
Accent pieces also are in demand in contemporary patio design. Ranging from containers to water features, garden art to actual wooden structures, these things add architectural interest and texture to a patio, Thompson said.
“You’re not just looking at a fence and a flat yard,” he said.
Warnock said containers in both unglazed terracotta and highly glazed shiny pottery are popular. Blues, greens and cream colors drive container color trends. “They just don’t clash with things quite as much,” she said.
Last year, flower motifs were popular on embossed containers. This year, look for more leafy foliage designs, Warnock said.
Faux rocks popular
Faux rocks and boulders with hollow areas for plantings also are popular patio containers, Warnock said. “They look more wildflowery.”
Water features — from statuesque, stationary fountains to water walls to small, portable water fountains — have held onto the popularity that greeted this trend a few years back, said Linda Thomas, a water-feature designer and owner/operator of Creative Dimensions.
“People love the sound of water,” she said. “There’s just something about it that they’re attracted to.”
Drought news hasn’t slowed interest in water features, Thomas said, particularly as people become more knowledgeable about how they work.
“I’ve seen more of a decline in sod than water features. I think people are really educating themselves and realizing that these features use water that recirculates.”
Water offers design flexibility, Thomas said. A water feature can be placed at the edge of a patio, built on a wall or take the shape of small pots with circulating water. “It doesn’t have to be set in the ground,” she said.
Pergolas — trellis-like wooden shade structures — are enjoying growing popularity. “I’ve seen more and had more people interested in them,” Thompson said.
The versatile structures create multipurpose spaces in a patio, whether shady play places or elegant outdoor eating areas, and fit well with demands for outdoor living space. “You’re just trying to create these spaces where you’re going to want to be and enjoy,” he said.
Today’s patio space is likely to take shape as an extension of a home’s interior, a fact reflected in trends in patio furnishings, design and accessories.
Contemporary patio design frequently aims to extend interior living space, said Diane Warnock, custom container designer at Gulley Greenhouse in Fort Collins.
“A lot of new homes today have so much glass,” she said. “When you’re inside the home, you can see the deck or patio. So designers try to carry the interior colors outside.”
Blurring the lines between inside and out lends the illusion of more living space.
“What you’re trying to do is create…
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