- Take the time to dream. Before you tear out your old patio or start laying brick for your new one, consider Benoit's advice. She says to thoughtfully consider what you want the patio to be. How will you use it? As a family outdoor dining or sitting room? Do you plan to entertain there? If so, how many people do you plan to accommodate - from 8 to 10 or from 25 to 50? Do you want it to be a dreamy protected space, or do you want it roofless so you can stare up at the stars at night?
- Whatever you do, think about your climate and whether you need protection from the wind or sun. Look through magazines for surface styles, structures, and materials that catch your eye.
- Match the patio to the house's architectural style. An outdoor retreat should complement the home's architecture - not fight it. Use your house trim colour in the patio's decor to tie the spaces together.
- Extend the inside outside. Pick colours, fabrics, and furniture styles you like inside your house and take them outside for a harmonious connection between the indoors and outdoors.
- Define the space as an outdoor room. Structures help define a patio as a "room." Adding an overhead structure gives the sense of a ceiling. Fencing or walling in one or more sides makes it feel like its own quarters. Placing columns, tall containers, or posts topped with attractive finials in each of the area's corners helps lend the space a sense of privacy.
- Turn it into a focal point. A patio should grab your eye. Buchan says to consider how you look out onto the patio from the house and what you want to see from those windows. Benoit tries to show just enough of the outdoor room from the house to intrigue an onlooker to come outside and see it in its entirety.
- Go shopping. Look around for art pieces, such as a birdbath or statuary, that capture your interest. These pieces will make the patio your own.
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