Creating an Outdoor "Room"
We recently endeavored on a little outdoor project that revolved around the idea of creating an outdoor "room" in our backyard. A couple of years ago, we put in a fire pit area - we cleared the ground, put in a border material, and filled it with pea gravel before stacking the stone for the fire pit. It's a great seating area we enjoy most of the year.
We love that our property backs up to forest, but it's a constant battle to keep it from encroaching on our hard-earned outdoor oasis! So, in an effort to create a buffer, we decided to build a garden screen to be a physical barrier from the wilder elements (ahem, poison ivy).
My husband and I were the landscape design duo behind the screen, and it came together on the fly. It was very important to me that the screen contribute to the overall vibe of the yard, that it not be something we just put up, but that gave the sense of an outdoor room.
Eventually, covered in jasmine vine, it will create not just a sense of space, but a highly-sensory experience. Combined with the neutral and textural elements we selected for furnishings and accents, it extends the design aesthetic we have inside our home to the outdoors, effectively expanding our living area.
I can't wait for the screen to be covered in the little fragrant blooms. So far, so good!
