Outdoor Living Goes Upscale

If your idea of outdoor living is a blow-up kiddie wading pool and a folding lawn chair, you’ve got some catching up to do.

Architects, home builders, suppliers and design experts all report surging interest in outdoor living spaces – and they do mean “living.” At the high end, outdoor kitchens and entertaining areas can include wood-fired pizza ovens, refrigerators and dishwashers, built-in sinks, cocktail bars and food preparation areas, according to the Hearth, Patio & Barbecue Association (HPBA) industry trade group.

Weatherproof televisions and stereos also are finding a home outdoors, the HPBA says. Basically, if people can do it inside, they increasingly want to be able to do it outdoors too, all while being comfortable in all-weather furniture that isn’t made of plastic or vinyl.

The National Association of Home Builders predicts that both average and upscale homes will incorporate outdoor living features in 2015. The average home will at the very least have a patio or a front porch (which is making a comeback), according to February 2007 report.

But upscale homes are predicted to go whole-hog with a grill, sinks, cooking island, refrigerators, covered patios or decks, outdoor living, audio and TV equipment, fireplaces, pools or spaces and decorative water features, according to the representative industry survey.

A 2007 American Institute of Architects survey reported similar findings, with substantially increased interest for two consecutive years in outdoor living features, including upscale landscaping, formal lot boundaries, pools, tennis courts and gazebos.

Although tennis courts and some of the fancier outdoor kitchen features might be beyond many homeowners’ means, experts say the outdoor living trend is encompassing all price ranges.

Kathy Browning, a Virginia Beach, VA, interior merchandiser who owns Design Consultants, notes that many outdoor-living products that had only been available to contractors now are popping up in home-improvement stores.

All it takes is a grill, somewhere to sit and eat and a source of heat such as a fireplace, chiminea or fire pit, according to the Hearth, Patio & Barbecue Association. Americans spent about $50 billion on remodeling for outdoor living in 2005, the HPBA says.

In new homes, outdoor living space is basically replacing some of the space people give up as they downsize, Browning says. She says the trend became particularly noticeable to her in 2006 when she was judging a national homebuilders contest. Outdoor living spaces have even spread to cold areas like the upper Midwest, she says.

Browning also noticed outdoor living spaces incorporated into all kinds of home styles, whether urban lofts or condos, empty-nester multifamily housing or single-family homes. Urban spaces incorporated terraces or rooftop gardens; multifamily projects included courtyard areas where people can gather and entertain.

The industry is responding with every imaginable kind of product, says Browning. Exhibits at a recent International Builders Show were particularly eye-opening, she says.

“They’ve got every kind of fireplace, every kind of cooking appliance, practically every kind of furniture, including draperies and cushions … and a number of accessories available for the outdoors, like wall art,” Browning says.

“You kind of look at this and think, ‘There’s more to it than just a deck and a grill.’ ”