As a resident of the Northeast, I get to enjoy the outdoors for approximately four months a year. During the other eight, I regularly get to escape to warmer climes for work and thus I’m never able to forget how truly wonderful it feels to be able to live your life outside.
With my recent move, this is the first year in many that we actually have a small outdoor space to call our own. This, plus the short-lived few months we get to enjoy hot days and warm nights, has created an urge in me to decorate our little back porch this spring. Nothing too fancy — a bright, patterned rug, a petite table and chairs, maybe a lantern or two — just enough to bring some life beyond the back door, but easy enough to pack up when the leaves start to fall.
When I expressed this desire to my fiancé, his response was “Why? It’s outside.”
Sometimes he’s so unknowingly poetic.
It is outside. But that doesn’t matter any longer.
Your home’s outdoor space is still part of your home, your sanctuary. Today more than ever. We’ll spend countless hours and dollars making our kitchens or our bedrooms feel perfectly comfortable and perfectly “us” — now it’s the patio/porch/balcony’s turn.
I think several things are driving this transformation: For one, we’re spending more time at home, especially entertaining; another factor is the revitalization of gardening and outdoor “wellness hotspots” as part of living a healthy life, thanks to Millennials. According to the 2017 Garden Trends Report, five of the six million new gardeners in 2016 were Millennials. My generation places importance on nature, conservation and sustainability; outdoor living is just plain living.
And also, the advancement of outdoor kitchen appliances is a factor as well. Now, you can prepare the same caliber of meal on your patio as you would inside (so long, hot dogs) with today’s newest grills, refrigerators, storage and more. Fashionable lighting and furnishings just fit this migration.
Nowadays, it’s harder and harder to distinguish what’s meant solely for the interior.
And actually, the fact that many new products can go outside just as easily as they can sit in your living room is a testament to what I’m preaching.
Throughout winter markets, manufacturers were excited to show off their latest offerings in this category, and rightfully so — not only are they feats of engineering, standing up to the elements, they’re stylish too. In our Outdoor Living Idea Boards, starting on page 18, we highlight four looks in outdoor decor with many of the new introductions I just mentioned, illustrating that it’s no longer a wicker-furniture-only game.
I’m enjoying watching this category evolve, planting its importance in the home and our market. It has me excited to spruce up the 20 square feet of porch space I have now, while simultaneously dreaming up the backyard oasis of my future. Now, what to do about that northeasterly residence...
