Australians have grown an insatiable appetite for outdoor living and a striking outdoor area now features on many new and renovated homes. More than a place to put the BBQ, our decks and patios are evolving into fully appointed living spaces. Outdoor kitchens, fireplaces, furniture, fabrics, rugs, and lighting in every design style offer infinite possibilities for designing outdoor rooms to suit our personal lifestyles. The fusion of these traditionally interior elements with nature’s environment draws us out of the house and into the fresh air! However, it hasn’t always been that way.
Historically, backyards where centred on practicality and supporting household economies. The outhouse, food gardens, livestock and artisanal trades work in the backyard sustained the needs of everyone living in the home. Then, at the height of consumer culture in the fifties and sixties, new technology forged a booming business in household appliances, freeing the economic need and the backyard became a place of relaxation and leisure. Paving, decks, patios, manicured lawns and swimming pools ensured that comfort, contrast and status were the guiding principles in a backyard space.
Today, entertainment and outdoor cooking has become an anchor for how we experience life outside. The outdoor kitchen has been re-defined once again as supplemental to the main kitchen and the division between outdoors and in has blurred. The dream home has become something you create wherever you are, with the help of the booming home-wares industry.
The new “outdoor room” is really all about a sense of continuity and the best use of space indoors as well as out. The backyard, big or small, has once again enabled us to extend the range of our homes. Echoing the self-contained economy of the past, technology has enabled us to once again work from home and more people are using their backyard space for growing and nurturing their own fresh food. Backyards of all sizes are now highly coveted as key places to create reflections of our values, interests, and personalities.
Quilliam Building have been transforming backyards on new and period homes for over a decade. We know the design and construction considerations that will create your ideal indoor and outdoor living spaces within your new home or renovation. A successful outdoor room that seamlessly blends with the indoors in any home lies in the expert design and construction of functionality and features, positioning of lighting and décor and foliage to invite nature into your outdoor room.
You don’t need a new home to create an outdoor living space that invites the inside out. Some of the most stunning outdoor spaces are created for character period homes, where there is a successful union of form and function infused with personal style. Quilliam Building specialise in building and enhancing period and lifestyle homes throughout the Ballarat region. Why not invite your inside out and enjoy the benefits of outdoor living.