Outdoor Living Room Styling Ideas
If you’re anything like me, you could use a little extra space at home. One way to create a little breathing room is to take advantage of outdoor space. Whether it’s a patio, deck, or front porch with a little but of strategy you can create a cozy outdoor living room.
For my outdoor space, I looked no further than my front porch! Recently, I painted the front doors black so the porch was more than ready for a full refresh. I teamed up with the folks at All Modern to tackle this space and am sharing my outdoor styling tips here.
Over the last year, I’ve worked hard to make this house more functional. Defining little areas, such as my bedroom office nook, gives us each space to enjoy the things we love.
However, even with just me and the boys, we still could use a little bit extra room now and then. By turning the covered front porch into more of an outdoor living room, I’ve created a great place to welcome friends for a glass of wine, drink my coffee in the morning, or just enjoy the evening sunset.
Outdoor Living Sources
The pieces I selected from All Modern are timeless classics that can also transition to other areas. I designed this mood board to help show the overall design look I was going for – an organic modern style that feels accessible and not too fussy.
Outdoor Styling Tips
A lot of the same elements you’d use for decorating indoors work for outdoor areas too. Things like contrast, warmth, and texture are super important. With outdoor spaces though, things can start to feel kind of over styled real fast – like too perfect and not comfortable. Or, on the flip side, too random and hodge podge (my home leans this way!). I’ve outlined a few tips for decorating outdoor spaces that I find helpful:
Choose Transitional Furniture
Choose furniture pieces that can easily transition to other areas or uses. This metal coffee table works perfectly for enjoying coffee and snacks but will also be great on our backyard patio for games on warm summer nights. Also, I could totally using these chairs inside too (and I did! See the bottom of this post!).
Go For the Outdoor Rug
Use an outdoor rug to make the space feel like an actual cozy living room. A rug also helps keep things clean going between indoors and out. I chose a neutral striped outdoor rug that very much feels like it’s part of my home. For reference, I used a 5’3″ x 7′ 6″ rug size – perfect for defining the space and not too small.
Consider All Seasons
When creating an outdoor living room, plan how to make it function through all seasons. Even in the gray Oregon spring weather, I want to enjoy this space! Think ahead about which key pieces can be used throughout the year and which will need to be covered or moved indoors.
Final Thoughts on Outdoor Living Rooms
I hope this post gives you ideas and inspiration on creating an outdoor living space. From making it functional throughout the year and including key pieces to make it comfortable – with a little strategy it’s possible to create a cozy, budget friendly space.
