Location:
The ideal location for an outdoor room is a place that is easily accessible to indoor living rooms. Think of the outdoor room as an extension of your living quarters, and not as a spate entity from your home. This way you can look forward to the year round beauty and joy this space adds to your home. You should try to make the margins a continuation of the lines of your home, so that it appears to be attached.
An outdoor living space is an integral part of your home grounds, and should not simply be an afterthought. Although it is best to think of the outdoor room as an extension of our home, this does not mean it cannot be reached by a garden path or a separate vista. An outdoor garden room that unfolds unexpectedly creates a stunning surprise as well as an interesting feature. Adding divisions by hedges creates a nice charm not available in an undivided garden.
If you are able to plan out the garden room before the house location or construction has started, this can be a great advantage, and afford many opportunities to decide what arrangement will be best suited or desired. If you do not have a house built yet, use cardboard cut outs, made to scale, to represent the house, garage, and other buildings, allowing you to move them about on your plot plan to determine what look you like best. If your lot has an unusual shape or topography, this gives you time to landscape and fix any issues, or a sunken terrain, can include the use of steps to create a garden you have to walk down into!
When it comes to exposure it is best to avoid a northern exposure. The climatic conditions will make certain exposure more favorable over others.
If the home is already built, included walks and drives, this actually provides simplicity to your plans.
If the home has already been planned with no access to the outdoor room, a window could easily be converted to a doorway to give direct access. This makes access easier, instead of having to walk clear around your home to get to the outdoor space. The rear of the house usually offers the best and most practical place in normal sized lots, for an outdoor room. This also offers the most privacy, with the house itself acting as part of the screen.
If your lot size is small, only offering a small rear or side yard, you can still create a wonderful outdoor room. It is very hard to find a lot that is too small that an outdoor space cannot be added. If your space is very wide you can even create rooms that flow into one another. You can incorporate a window or door from the house that opens into the outdoor room in the design as well. Large picture windows will create a beautiful work of art from the home, as you can gaze out on your stunning garden room. A porch or terrace is a pleasing transition from indoors to outside, connecting both to create a wonderful design.
With all of these points in mind, you can now establish the area for your outdoor room, the relation to the house, as well as the way to enter it. Create an axis line now, as this is the most important element for designing an outdoor room.
The axis line refers to an imaginary line around which the design centers. This can be determined by a window, doorway or steps. A formal outdoor living room will center its design on this line or lines, as you can add more to create right angles. An informal design may include the axis line centering on a particular feature like a garden house or pool, featuring a more informal design over a geometric one.