For Lisa Petrella, principal of Troy’s Petrella Designs, an outdoor space can be broken down into three important ingredients: placement, cooking & dining, and ambiance, all of which were carefully considered when designing this outdoor area in Bloomfield Hills. Lisa supplies these tips:
PLACEMENT:
To maximize use of your outdoor living space, place your essential outdoor pieces as close as possible to the doorway of your home. Many beautiful indoor living spaces directly connect to outdoor space and truly extend your living space inside and out.
Consider traffic patterns and intimate seating areas; this can be achieved by separate seating and dining areas, or TV viewing areas. You can accomplish this by furniture arrangement or creating multiple patio areas around the pool or yard.
COOKING & DINING:
For those clients who have a great love of cooking and entertaining, an outdoor kitchen may be a great option – or even a pizza oven. If these options are too far of a reach for my client, I recommend a fire pit for roasting marshmallows and making s’mores.
AMBIANCE:
I start by selecting elements from the inside of the client’s home that they enjoy. Then I adapt them to the outdoors by incorporating an outdoor fireplace, fire pit, or installing TVs or sound systems. We also look at outdoor lighting or tranquil water features to add to a peaceful environment.
Dining table is custom; lounge & dining chairs – Lane Venture Outdoor (RJ Thomas)
Landscape Design & Pool: Mosher & Associates Landscaping