Outdoor Living Part 4

It's funny how many "outdoor living" posts I can come up with...it's the part of the house I think I'm most excited about.  There is so much space and it has great bones, it will be a pleasure to see it transform into our little piece of heaven.   Our family spends a lot of time outdoors in our current casa and we have a fourth of the amount of space we will have in the new casa.  I can just imagine, how much fun we'll have there.

We love to entertain...most family functions are held at our house.  In addition we love to have friends over for casual dinners, formal dinners, parties, you name it...

I would like to incorporate many furnishings and elements that will stand the test of time and be durable.  This is one reason why I think bench seating would be great around the perimeter of the outdoor living area and/or outdoor kitchen.

These are some ideas I've seen recently:



from Tremron Group brochure In this photograph, I like the different heights and the decorative planters.   I love the torches.   I would prefer the ledges lower to facilitate seating...it looks like these ledges are too high to use for seating.  I'd also like to have the area covered because of the unpredictable weather in Florida.  We get rain often and I would hate to have it hinder an event.   If outdoor areas are covered, it doesn't matter if it rains... I like the height of these walls for seating. The flooring in this photo is similar to what I'd like to have in the outdoor areas. I'd like something that would be easy to maintain with  clean lines and east to walk or dance on with high heels, etc. I've posted this before and I'm posting it again because I like the look with the fireplace and the pergola. I don't want the brick on the fireplace.  I prefer more simple lines. I love this wall in the background with the tall grass in the forefront.  Rather than having the grass I would prefer a water feature with the water falling over a wall this size into a basin.  I would like something like this at the end of the pool to seperate the pool area from the tennis court and the rest of the yard. This is the finish I would prefer on the fireplace.  It is simple yet makes a statement. Although I don't like the "style"of this room, I do like the bench seating on the perimeter.  I would prefer the look without the walls extending so high up.  I would prefer a more open, airy feel. I like the wall for seating just beyond the pool. I wish I could incorporate a staircase like this in the yard... I think it is very pretty, but it would be too much for our casa.  I'm including the photo because it provides another version of the wall that could be used for seating.  This one is a little high, but you get the idea. I get the sense that the outdoor rooms of our new casa will have this feeling.  We do have many tropical plants and trees, I'd like to have the bench seating like the one in the picture and we want to have a fireplace and outdoor living room.   I would like to incorporate this flooring design somewhere in the yard. I love the pergola and the columns with vines. This yard looks elegant yet cozy.  I love it!

**Images from Habitually Chic, HGTV.com and Google images.