Ask Joshua - Utilizing an Outdoor Space

Hi Joshua,

I have a small cabin in the woods near a lake. We really like hosting people and friends who come camping, but our cabin is really small, but we’ve got a lot of outdoor space cleared and a decent sized deck. We have some outdoor furniture for people to sit on and a small table, but it’s pretty underwhelming and we’d like to make it more special as we love coming here on our weekends and making memories with friends. Any advice would be helpful.

Thanks,

Jeremy, Alton, NH

Cabin deck outdoor living space. Image created using AI via Canva

Hi Jeremy,

Thanks for writing in with your outdoor space design dilemma. It can be challenging enough designing and decorating indoors and even more so when faced with the outdoors and elements. It’s great that you love entertaining and having friends over and want to make the best of the space you have. My suggestion is to treat the outdoors like you would the indoors and create living spaces.

Since your goal is entertaining I would suggest a dining space and living room space. There are tons of really great options for all-weather furniture and fabrics now that you have a lot of choices to select for furniture, tables, pillows, rugs, and lighting to create these outdoor spaces nearly identical to what you can do indoors. Take a look at the above inspiration picture for an idea of what I’m talking about. The rug here is really crucial to delineate the difference between eating area and seating area without having any walls. Pick pieces that are to scale to the space you have and provide enough seating for the number of people you want to entertain.

I hope this helps you think a little differently when looking at your outdoor area and what you can do with it. For more in depth help, please reach out for some design help!

Warmly,

Joshua

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