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Outdoor Decorating
About Landscaping, Part 2
Add interest. While both balance and harmony are used to achieve unity, too much unity can be, well, boring. That's where variety and contrast come in handy. By varying the size, shape, color, material, texture, and detail, you can introduce a note of interest or a focal point into the total composition. For instance, placing a round wooden planter onto a square-patterned patio will provide a pleasing contrast of both shape and material. The contrasting object (the round wooden planter) will draw attention to itself and provide visual relief and interest to the total setting.
Establish visual rhythm. In design terms, rhythm-or how elements are spaced relative to similar elements-can create another type of unity in a composition. Rhythm helps to establish a visually satisfying progression or sequence to a site design. For example, you can create a regular rhythm on a walkway if you place a band of decorative brick at 4-foot intervals. On the other hand, a song composed of only one sequence of notes is boring. Vary such things as the interval, color, size, shape, texture, or material of the elements.
Emphasize an element. This point assumes that within your site some of the elements have more significance than the rest and that these special elements should be emphasized. This is probably starting to sound familiar to you by now, but a special element is given its due emphasis by making it larger; by giving it a different shape (round versus square); by using a singular color, texture, or material; by shifting or rotating its orientation; by centering it within a circle or at the end of walkway; or by lighting it at night. However, if you emphasize too much, you may end up with a visually confusing design.
Let simplicity be your guide. Simplicity is one of the hardest things to achieve in a design because there is a tendency to use all available tools and elements. The most elegant site designs are those that begin and end with simplicity as their guiding design principle. The Zen rock gardens of Japan are a good example.
Copyright 2009 Rhonda Morin, MyInteriorDecorator.com. May not be reprinted.
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Attached outdoor spaces that provide total or partial shelter should be considered an extension of the home's interior design. In most cases these areas embrace an entrance or serve to join two interior areas--a breezeway, for example.
Outdoor Decorating
Savvy homeowners don't end their decorating at the door, they keep going to include the decks, porches, sunrooms, and patios that surround their homes.
Decorating the Deck and Patio
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Pillows, upholstery, slipcovers, shades and blinds, lighting, flooring, and rugs all make a sunroom or a porch lush and comfortable.
About Patios, Decks, and Gazebos, Part 2
The second in a series about decorating our outdoor living areas like patios, decks and gazebo's.
The Outdoor Family Room
A deck or patio is used most often as a fair-weather family room, decorate it like you do your indoor spaces.
The Outdoor Kitchen and Dining Area
Practical planning makes outdoor cooking efficient and more enjoyable, whether it is for the family or a host of guests.
About Landscaping, Part 1
No outdoor living space is completely successful until it is integrated with the surrounding landscape. Just as there are principles for designing interior spaces, there are also guidelines for exterior ones.
About Landscaping, Part 2
The second part in the series about how to increase your outdoor living space's beauty with landscaping.
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