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Other Accents
One of the most attractive garden features for an outdoor living room is an old-fashioned sundial. It is not only useful as an accent but it has a sentimental charm, going back to the gardens of Tudor ancestry. Of course, today we all have clocks and watches are universal, yet it is still a pleasure to read the time upon a sundial and to ponder over the cheerful inscriptions it carries. As the purpose of the sundial is to count the sunny hours, it would be incongruous to place a sundial where it does not get sunlight, no matter how perfect it might look there.
Another very interesting and useful accents for an outdoor living room is a birdbath. Too much cannot be said in its favor. It can be as beautiful as a small fountain and the birds it attracts make it a desirable feature. The birdbath should be designed so that it will add to the beauty of our grounds as well as attract birds.
Birdbaths on a pedestal are considered superior to those that are placed upon the ground. Birds feel safe from cats and dogs when bathing in a bowl above the ground. Birds like to perch upon any raised object. The birdbath may be used as a feeding platform in winter. Trees and shrubs that have berries attractive to birds may be planted near the birdbath.
There are many delightful garden figures available in inexpensive cast stone material and terra cotta. These figures are particularly desirable for those out-of-the-way places in the informal outdoor living room where one comes upon them in pleasant surprise. An attractive figure at the end of a path seems delightfully placed and is almost certain to give a pleasing touch.
A most common and attractive use for the garden figure, especially the fountain figure, is in connection with pools. A really delightful picture is possible if the proper fountain figure is chosen and an attractive pool is built for it.
Vases and urns likewise assist in giving that livable touch to the outdoor living room. As either ornamental object d'art or plant-filled container, vases and urns provide many attractively useful possibilities. Their choice and placing should be carefully considered. By no means should vases be ostentatious. Rather they should be incidental to the decorative scheme and complement it in pleasing manner. Vases, jars, and pots may be attractively placed on the coping of a formal pool, on steps or on each side of a flight of steps or on a terrace overlooking a portion of the outdoor living room. It is not uncommon to see a colorful jar or vase set among the plants in a perennial border.
Vases and urns are available in cast stone and pottery in most every shape and color imaginable. One should select them for the outdoor living room with the same care and personal feeling as one would employ in selecting decorative features for rooms indoors. The principles of good taste are always the same. How to achieve that livable touch in the outdoor living room is something that will reveal itself in various degrees as our room develops. We will soon realize the things that are needed to make it homelike and comfortable -- and we will take just as much joy in trying out different arrangements as we have indoors.