Dalia Berlin Interior Design Blog

You are experiencing a reversal of the norm. Designers and architects alike have been taught to bring the outdoors inside from the beginning of time. The ever so important need to open up our buildings to the great outdoors has gone so far that the only natural progression was to extend the indoors and take them back outside.

The outdoor world industry has been one of the fastest growing markets in the design furnishings segment for the past decade. You could consider stress the main cause for this reversal. As a “pressed for time” society, we are desperately seeking ways to decompress from our taxing daily responsibilities. The very phrase “relaxing at home” is a luxury we crave as a society. We seek mini restful breaks without having to go on planned vacations. “Stay-cation” (a fairly new term) has invaded our vocabulary as our economy has put more demands on our luxury spending. As a result, the focus has shifted from getting away to getting away in our own backyards. The joy of entertaining has moved outdoors and is seen in full splendor in exterior kitchens, fireside lounging and art collecting for the garden.

The ability to combine one’s passion for cooking while enjoying the sunset is a natural extension and total step-up from the traditional lazy Sunday barbecue. As is the case with other cultural trends, the outdoor kitchen has exploded. A mere grill is not sufficient. Custom-home builders now must include an entirely outfitted kitchen that lives outside, so much so that in many climates it could very well completely obviate the indoor kitchen. Well, not quite, but one could see this happening. In areas where the climate is mild throughout the year, why would you want to cook inside if you could be freed of walls entirely? The appliance industry too has dedicated much of its R&D to products that can live outside in all kinds of weather year round. Much like interior design, designing for the outdoors is quite a lucrative market. The new outdoor wish list includes all types of products. Sure you will want a new grill, along with other appliances, but you will also want builtin cabinets, stone countertops, lighting, awnings, accessories, trash receptacles, and table top settings, which are now the basics for outdoor entertaining.

The simplest form of entertaining is borrowed from our past. A whole new technology has fired up the outdoor world in the form of fire pits. Seating groups and lounges have all been redesigned in circular arrangements to simulate camp fires; sitting around the fire pit entertaining your friends while roasting s’mores is the revival of an older form of casual entertaining. This childhood activity elicits past camp experiences, thus creating an instant retreat in your own backyard. Around the fire your guests recall their best camp and ghost stories. Isn’t it amazing how this delicious snack comes packed with lasting memories?

Furthermore, creating that unexpected focal point in your garden is atop many homeowners’ wish lists. Art collections for the outdoors are ever growing and found in many forms, designs and objects. From the gardens in the countryside castles of Europe to the gorgeous displays of art sculptures seen across many campuses in the United States is borne the inspiration for this spending shift. Neither the well-manicured and perfectly tended gardens of Versailles nor the human-sized Rodin sculptures of Stanford’s college are the types of art we seek today. Rather we search to bring out a touch of the unexpected; such is the guilty pleasure of finding a piece of Chihuly blown glass among your friend’s backyard shrubs. Hidden treasures of any theme are appropriately deemed as art in your own yard. Modern day surfboards with pegs double as pool towel racks, old scuba oxygen tank tops converted into a dinner bell and a myriad of chimes add charm to your backyard haven. Much like indoors, less is more. Outside the clean architecture lines flow with the dynamic plant life and are intertwined with the surprise elements of luxe in your garden. A special treat, after all, is finding the time to enjoy the journey.