Dreamy Outdoor Living Spaces

Originally published July 7, 2021. Updated April 1, 2025. It’s time to get outside! We’ve rounded up a collection of our reader’s favorite porches, terraces, decks, rooftop gardens, and fireside retreats from FLOWER magazine. Relax and take in these inspiring outdoor spaces for dining with friends, chilling poolside, or simply enjoying a priceless view.

At a family getaway house in the Bahamas, designer Marshall Watson chose a bold stripe for the outdoor chaises with a playful bright blue for the pillows. Photo by Francesco Lagnese. ©The Art of Elegance by Marshall Watson (Rizzoli New York, 2017).

See more of this home (and others) in “Marshall Watson, Master of Elegance.”

The new pool and pool house at this D.C. home slips gracefully into the landscape and reflects the exterior of the original house, including perfectly matched stucco, red tile roof, and arched detailing. 

See more of the outdoor addition, pool house, and garden at this 1920s home in “Empty Lot to Outdoor Wonderland.”

In her Berkshires garden, Maria Nation enjoys preparing meals in the outdoor kitchen that includes a wood-fired oven. Tilda, her standard poodle, and Dash, her Irish water spaniel, often keep her company.

Read more about Nation’s home and garden, Good Dogs Farm.

Designer Courtnay Tartt Elias of Creative Tonic transformed the front yard of her Houston home into a welcoming courtyard. In the courtyard’s covered space, the designer transformed traditional French-style indoor furniture using a fabric combination of jaunty stars and stripes.

See more of the front yard courtyard.

At a Palm Springs house, a smooth wall in the Steve Martino designed garden provides a backdrop for the seating area which includes low planters flanking the space. Another planter, built around two existing palm trees, projects into the pool.

See more of “Steve Martino’s Desert Gardens.”

“At home we keep it cozy, but usually alfresco, with lots of bubbly, and ending with s’mores by the fire,” says Charleston wedding and events designer Calder Clark.

See More of Clark’s Champagne and Oysters Party.

At FLOWER’s Baton Rouge showhouse, a covered porch designed by Will Huff and Heather Dewberry creates the look and feel of an indoor room that has been transported outside. 

See more details from the Baton Rouge showhouse covered porch.

Garden designer Jon Carloftis designed this rooftop garden retreat for the 21c Museum Hotel. It takes full advantage of the downtown Louisville, Kentucky river views. 

See more of Carloftis’s rooftop gardens (including work for Google’s New York HQ and actor Edward Norton) and more pastoral landscapes in “Jon Carloftis: City Roofs & Country Roots.”

The walled garden of a Houston home presented an opportunity for architect Ray Booth to layer the living space into the exterior.

See more of Booth’s designs.

For a dining space in Kate Brodsky’s East Hampton garden,, the architects dreamed up a pavilion featuring an allée of plane trees trained with bamboo rods to forge a canopy. A slender Fermob bistro table paired with French-inspired folding chairs stands atop the gravel floor, giving off a very Euro-Cali wine country vibe. “A ‘dining pavilion’ sounds so glamorous, doesn’t it?” laughs Kate. 

See more from “Summer In Style with Kate Rheinstein Brodsky.”

Off the back of FLOWER’s Brierfield Showhouse, the Hayfield Terrace, with bluestone tiles and brick detailing, is enclosed by a low fieldstone wall showing off planters full of seasonal flowers and grasses. One side of the terrace offers more seating options with armchairs, a sofa, and a barrel chair. The other side has alfresco dining, with a teak table and chairs that are brightened with pillows, textiles, and copper lanterns.

See more of the Brierfield Farmhouse.

Renny Reynolds refers to his South Florida garden as a planned jungle. Guests of Renny’s outdoor gatherings enjoy lush, sweeping veiws of the golf course. A filigreed lantern found at a Palm Beach designer’s yard sale hangs above a farm table Renny Reynolds got from a friend.

See more of “Renny Reynolds’ Planned Jungle.” 

California designer Mark D. Sikes extols the virtues of creating a natural connection between house and garden with color, motifs, and plant materials. At Sikes’ own home, a terrace becomes a natural extension of indoor spaces with its blue-and-white furnishings and accessories, and ficus-covered walls. 

Enjoy an excerpt from Sykes book, Beautiful: All-American Decorating and Timeless Style (Rizzoli New York, 2016), in “Decorating with Greens.”

A desire to be closer to nature lured Brooke and Steve Giannetti to Ojai, California, where they’ve built a house and gardens that appear to have been there for ages. One of Steve’s favorite places to relax is on the L-shaped sofa around a fire pit that looks like a campfire.

From Patina Farm by Brooke Giannetti and Steve Giannetti.
See more of the Giannetti’s beautiful home and garden in “A Natural Patina.”

For a Palm Beach home makeover, Kim Coleman designed a palm tree pattern for the loggia’s mirrored walls. A pair of JANUS et Cie sofas face off over a coffee table of teak root topped with glass. It’s a transportive space—part night club, part jewel box. Phalaenopsis orchids add pops of color.

See more of this Palm Beach Ranch Makeover.

A removable canvas cover shades the pergola at this East Hampton home. The bee cutout appears on two of the house’s three gates. Richard Keith Langham designed the settee, chairs, and ottoman.

See more of Frances Schultz’s Bee Cottage.

Off the kitchen of FLOWER’s Palmetto Bluff Showhouse, a classic covered porch serves as an extension of the home’s entertaining space and offers vistas of the surrounding water. Designers Phoebe Howard and Nellie Howard Ossi grounded the space with a large rug that makes the porch feel more like an interior room. Then they added plenty of seating, including two poufs that can be moved around as needs arise.

See more from the Palmetto Bluff Showhouse.

Produced by Jason Burnett

SEE MORE OUTDOOR LIVING STYLE

• Choosing Outdoor Seating
• Charismatic, Colorful Outdoor Furniture
• Chic Outdoor & Patio Furniture: Neutrals
• Jon Carloftis: City Roofs & Country Roots
• Extend the Garden Season