Outdoor Living Design
California Outdoor Living
In Orange County, we have more than 280 days of sunshine a year and homeowners are taking advantage of it. Being able to enjoy outdoor living spaces for the majority of the year is just one of the many perks of living in Southern California. There are many ways to create an outdoor space that feels like an extension of the home. These include outdoor kitchens, bars, and media entertainment areas. As an outdoor design build contractor, we have solid ground here to help you build your outdoor living space to your needs.
Benefits of an Outside Living Room
Creating a cohesive design between the indoors and outdoors includes not only great space planning, but also material selection. Many Orange County home remodels are now including bi-fold doors in their outdoor spaces. This allows for a seamless transition between the interior and exterior of the home. Selecting tile flooring that can be carried throughout the house and into the outdoor California room also helps to create the look of one continuous space.
Because there is so much design and space planning necessary when transitioning between your indoor and outdoor space, it is recommended to use a design-build firm for your California Room as opposed to an outdoor living contractor that will not have the design and space planning included in their services. This type of general contractor would expect you to show up with plans, materials, and design done. At Sea Pointe Construction, all of these details will be tended to by our design and construction professionals.
How to Design an Outdoor Living Space
Designing an outdoor living room needs to take into consideration how you want to entertain, among other things. Do you envision watching Sunday’s big game in the fresh air? If so, consider how intricate you want your outdoor electronic system to be, including TVs, internet, and sound systems. If you’re a foodie, you may want to take it one step further than the typical built-in barbeque, and consider including a pizza oven, the popular new outdoor gas griddles or rotisserie in your California Room design. And if star-gazing is your thing, how about incorporating a built-in fireplace as a central gathering place for family and friends?
Most people find the finishings to be the most fun; and this goes right back to what will you use your California Room for? Will you have a beverage center or even two beverage centers. You absolutely want a sink if you will have any type of cooking implements in your outdoor space. Trust us, you don’t want to be trapesing to and from your indoor kitchen, leaving two kitchens that need tending to, rather an outdoor sink provides you the convenience you will surely want. Do you want to add a kegerator, a smoker, unique mood lighting, how about an outdoor oven to keep the house cool when cooking in the Summer? Speaking of cool, will you want ceiling fans, a mister system, or even a heating system for the few weeks out of the year that provide a chill in the air in Southern California.
And when you can’t decide what you want to use your California Room for, there’s always the option to add dual California Rooms. Below you will see a Villa Park dual California Room design and build that provides a kitchen in one outdoor space and a lounging space with fireplace and TV in the other. Both outdoor spaces incorporated ceiling fans, heating systems, and surround sound speaker systems with the accompanying TV.
With Sea Pointe Construction, you get a design-build team that coordinates the entire process from start to finish, including design, engineering, and construction all in one contract. Our teams of professionals are industry experts and will use their experience to deliver more than you know to ask for. With so many options in outdoor remodeling, you’ll appreciate seasoned professionals whose experience can help design and construct the perfect space for you and your family to love.
Gone are the days of basic barbecues, so allow your imagination to meet possibility, and let’s work together to create the outdoor living space you’ve been dreaming of!
Are my material options limited when designing an outdoor space?
Now, within those material lines specifically designed for the outdoors, it’s unlikely that you’ll feel limited by the number of styles and color combinations available. Again, specific to cabinetry, most manufacturers offer everything from modern style, stainless steel cabinetry to the transitional, painted cabinet aesthetic, to the more traditional, detailed door and drawer styles. Not to mention the wide variety of finishes, some even closely mimicking the look of natural wood, which fits every design style!
What limitations do I have within my property?
In addition, each city within Orange County has a specific set of construction codes and building regulations, whether you’re working on an indoor or outdoor renovation. In general, each city requires that the distance between your homes or your outdoor living space structure and the street meet certain specifications called “setbacks”. In other words, there is only a certain amount of space within your property lines that you’re legally allowed to build upon. For homeowners with limited outdoor space, once the setbacks are taken into consideration, building a California room, outdoor living space may not make the most sense.
Similarly, if you live within an area that is regulated by a homeowners association, the finishes and design materials you have to choose from may be limited. It is a goal of the homeowners association to keep the neighborhood looking somewhat uniform so, for those of you who love out-of-the-box design styles, you may be urged to reel it in.
How can I achieve a seamlessly transition between my indoor and outdoor living spaces?
The ultimate indoor-outdoor design element is a large, bi-folding door system. These door systems quite literally allow homeowners to open up an entire section of their home to the outdoors! Usually connecting a central interior living space, like the family room or kitchen, and an outdoor dining or lounge space, bi-folding door systems are the key to indoor-outdoor entertainment and family fun.
When choosing what type of material to pave your outdoor living space with, selecting something as close to the style and tone of your indoor flooring will help in creating an outdoor space that truly feels like an extension of your home. Certain materials, such a porcelain wood plank tiles, are suitable for both indoors and outdoors and will for sure make the two spaces feel like one.
When it comes to constructing a covered, California Room type outdoor living space, following your homes natural roofline will add to the uninterrupted, indoor-outdoor feel you’re hoping for. Moreover, finishing the California Room structure in the same colored stucco and/or shingling as your home will trick the eye into seeing both structures as one.
Similarly, if you live within an area that is regulated by a homeowners association, the finishes and design materials you have to choose from may be limited. It is a goal of the homeowners association to keep the neighborhood looking somewhat uniform so, for those of you who love out-of-the-box design styles, you may be urged to reel it in.