Create a Spot to Soothe Your Soul with an Outdoor Sanctuary
We all need to get away sometimes, but that doesn’t necessarily mean packing your bags. Instead enjoy a quiet spot where you can make the world go away. It could be as simple as a wicker lounge chair placed in the shade or a weathered bench propped with cushions and under a vine covered pergola. Outdoor retreats are places to relax, read a book, write, paint of just day dream.
You’ve often heard decorators say that you should bring the outside in, but the opposite is also true! Create an outdoor seating area that is just as relaxing and comfortable as indoors, imagine plump wicker settees with pillows or benches draped in blankets and linens for those cooler nights. Floor cushions, poufs and ottomans all lend themselves to outdoor living spaces.
Furniture for an Outdoor Living Space:
The goal of any outdoor living area or kitchen is to create a comfortable place that can be enjoyed by all. Picking the right style and type of furniture is essential.
Adirondack Chairs: Imagine the possibilities – picture a white Adirondack chair surrounded by old metal buckets filled with hydrangea and lavender. A weather-worn tabletop perched on a large wine barrel, creating a sturdy and practical outdoor table. An old bench piled high with pillows and flanked by potted plants and rustic sconces. It is the perfect destination for a relaxing day outdoors.
Day beds:
Certainly you could buy an exotic faux wicker daybed and pile it high with a mountain of cushions, like something out of a Balinese spa.
Hang a Canopy:
The very vision of romance is fabric billowing in the breeze, whether forming a canopy over a seat or draped over a dining spot. To get the look add hooks on porch ceilings, pergolas and other outdoor structures to make it easy to hang sail cloth curtains at a moment’s notice. You could also create a tented canopy over your daybed with a simple hook and circle curtain rods. For the ultimate romantic look, use an Indian inspired sari cloth or Moroccan style silk cloth.
Accessories:
Accessorize your outdoor retreat imaginatively with architectural items like doors, windows and columns. Hang a wire gate on a wooden fence. Make your own torch by propping a funnel on a pole and adding a votive. A vintage screen door propped against a hedge suggests a mysterious room just beyond it.