Outdoor Living In 2021

Whether you’re cooking, exercising, or just hanging out, plan to spend more time outside this year as backyards, decks, and patios evolve into comfortable, well-equipped extensions of the home.   This year’s outdoor living trends are all about making your backyard, porch, or even balcony a regular part of everyday life. Homeowners can expect to bring indoor conveniences outdoors with smart technology, multipurpose add-ons, and structures that allow us to be outside longer and more often throughout the year. Whether it’s a spot a private patio with plenty of shade, or a place to do the cooking, outdoor living in 2021 is synonymous with time spent at home.  Here are a few ideas we like that will enhance your outdoor living experience.

Outdoor Kitchens

Cooking at home outdoors has become increasingly popular.    And we don’t just mean your standard barbeque grill, but instead entire outdoor kitchens.  There are many additional cooking elements like pizza ovens and grills to supplement the main interior kitchen.  Other options can include prep space, storage, sinks and refrigeration.  Space and your renovation budget will determine what type of kitchen we can build and install.  And we always recommend additional seating to complete alfresco meals.

Multipurpose Furniture

In 2020 entertaining was less of a focus, which prompted furniture designers to build multi-functional pieces meant to work in outdoor spaces that accommodate both everyday living and social distancing.  Expect newer designed outdoor furnishings to be versatile enough to use in nearly any space you choose. Hidden features and items that are convertible, like modular tables that can be pulled apart with hidden beverage compartments are things to look for.

Products That Extend the Outdoor Living Season

Furniture, accessories, and add-ons that help you stay outside longer are an especially popular upgrade.   We like to help our clients extend the days and hours they can enjoy being outside.  Amenities like fire pits, heat lamps, misting systems and fans help extend the outdoor living season.   To tie it all together we add outdoor rugs, throw blankets, pillows, and lighting, which supply cozy ambience.

Why Carole Lee?

 At Carole Lee Interiors, we offer clients a complete approach to satisfy all your outdoor living needs. We provide outdoor kitchen installation, custom firepit installation, outdoor lighting and full-service design and decoration for all furnishings, including selection and purchasing.  Give us a call today!

Freshen Up for Spring

Following a long and lingering winter, the first few weeks of spring breathe fresh air into our outdoor surroundings. Concurrently, the beginning of spring is an ideal time for homeowners to step outside and attend to the exterior surfaces of their homes, outdoor living spaces, and gardens. Outdoor “spring cleaning” projects can unfold in various forms: essential home maintenance efforts, design updates and improvements, and garden makeovers.

Essential home maintenance tasks ensure that the exterior surfaces of your home remain safe, preserved, and functional. A spring checklist of items includes: examining the roof for missing or damaged shingles, cleaning the gutters, servicing the air-conditioning unit, cleaning the windows and their screens, and power washing the deck and patio surfaces. Exterior design updates, such as a fresh coat of facade paint, will also enliven your home’s curb appeal. This season, a few trending façade paint combinations include: slate grey/white/deep turquoise, and white putty/taupe/olive green. In addition, installing new rail planters, and lush greenery like ferns and vine covers will accentuate your garden.

The Benefits of Whole House Standby Generators

Standby generators are smart and effective pieces of equipment for homeowners to consider purchasing in order to avoid the effects and inconveniences of power outages.

What is a standby generator?

Standby generators are back up power sources that are permanently installed on a platform in your yard. Their size and build are comparable to a central air conditioning unit. Standby generators automatically detect an outage within the municipal power grid and subsequently provide seamless backup power to your home for an extended period of time.

How does as standby generator work?

Standby generators are equipped with two primary components: an automatic transfer switch (ATS), and generator. ATS technology identifies an outage in the municipal power grid, disconnects your home from the grid, and promptly connects the generator to your home’s electrical panel. The generator is powered by a local natural gas supply and will deliver high-quality power for an unlimited amount of time. Once the municipal power has been restored, ATS technology prompts the generator to disconnect and shutdown.

What are the positive attributes of standby generators? 

Standby generators protect the functionality of your home’s heating and cooling systems during a power outage. In addition, they allow vital home systems to operate during an outage to include sump pumps, well pumps, large appliances and security systems. Standby generators are ideal for families with small children or family members who rely on electricity to power medical devices, as well people who run a business out of their home.

Carole Lee Interiors provides comprehensive electrical services to include the installation of standby generators. At Carole Lee Interiors, we work with sophisticated contractors to help our client’s select a standby generator that is compatible with their home and ensure a seamless installation process.

Ideas For Porch & Patio

It’s the time of year to rethink how your outdoor area looks, feels, and functions. It’s easy to give an exterior space a major makeover just by adding a few creative changes. Here are some ideas that will make refreshing your outdoors as clear as the blue skies overhead.

Run For Cover!
No shade overhead? Choose a stylish umbrella that makes a big statement or make your own escape from the rays with a fabric canopy

Hues That Hollar
Colorful accents make a bold statement. Go for loud colors and modern prints with stripes or vibrant floral patterns. Achieve an inexpensive makeover just by reconsidering your cushions and throw pillows!

Rearrange
Outdoors is a room without walls, so you’ll need to create intimacy for gathering by strategically arranging tables, sofas, umbrellas, fire pits, and so on. We suggest creating a lounging area and a separate dining area.

Get Vertical!
If you’ve got fences or your patio juts up against the walls of your home, make use of their space! Hang planters, shelves, grilling tools, art, mirrors, a clock, and so on!

Lounge In LuxuryDay beds are becoming more popular and stylish for outdoors. Who wouldn’t what to spend an afternoon reading there

Easy Breezy
Ceiling Fans are a great way to add high style while providing a functional purpos

Beyond The Soil

No actual yard? No problem! Potted plants, hanging baskets, and window planters can provide all the greenery you need to make a luscious space, or add interest to patio decor.

Neat Seats

 Functional benches can double for outdoor storage, which is especially handy in small spaces.

Grow Up!

 A vine-laden trellis softens an otherwise uninteresting wall, creating a rich, warm environment. Get creative with the designs for added interest.

Mix and Match For an informal approach, mix up the chairs – choose different colors or an assortment of styles.

A Swinging Good Time Is there anything more relaxing than the slow, rhythmic swinging motion of a hammock, hanging chair, or swinging bench? This is summer at it’s best!

Light It Up

Cast a soft glow over your outdoor space with a string of lights, lanterns, or a candlelit chandelier that can be raised and lowered by a rope pulley rigged to a tree. (Restoration Hardware)

Bar Space
Design your outdoor world with a bar, a counter, some stools – create an easy way to pass food into the great outdoors through a window in your kitchen.

Bring It All Together With Fabric
The outdoors can truly begin to feel like a completed room with the use of fabric curtains to divide space and rugs to bring it all together in a homey way. Be sure your fabric is mold and water resistant.

Reframe Your World
Pergulas, arches, fencing, and overhead canopies can add extra seclusion, especially if you’re in a small or urban space.

A Painted World
Art can belong in the great outdoors. It certainly helps urban patios, decks, and balconies, and it can always try to compete with the beauty of creation!

Adding Designer Touches
Details really create the finishing touches on a room. Whether it’s lighting, mirrors, vases, candles, wall art, throw blankets or pillows, you’ll use the same rules of thumb decorating the exterior as the interior.

Tight budget?
Work with what you already own or shop thrift stores, flea markets, or garage sales for one-of-a-kind finds like quirky bird cages or antiques that can be refurbished for another use.