Designing an Outdoor Living Space for Hosting and Lounging
Summertime in Mid-coast Maine is, and I say this as someone who has personally survived multiple winters here, absurdly beautiful. So when our friends bought their first home, we did what any good friends would do: we showed up with opinions and a vision for their deck.
Here's the thing nobody tells you about buying your first house: it becomes a second job approximately forty-eight hours after you get the keys. The to-do list doesn't just grow, it reproduces. There's always something that needs caulking, or a sound coming from a place where sounds shouldn't come from, or a project you didn't know existed until a contractor mentioned it in a tone that implied you should have known. We've been there. So instead of showing up with advice, we wanted to give them something they could actually use this summer. A reason to step outside, sit down, and have a little respite from all of the things that need attention.
That meant an outdoor space worth sitting in. On purpose. And maybe with a drink.
We partnered with AllModern to pull it all together and honestly, sourcing was the easiest part of this whole project. Whatever your design style, and whether you're working with a sprawling outdoor deck or a small backyard patio, they've got outdoor furniture and decorative elements that actually fit. We have also learned over time that quality outdoor furniture is worth the investment. Our AllModern pieces still look great years later and they have held up through Maine winters, which is not nothing. Plus, the shipping is fast, so you can start enjoying summer before it slips away!
Sources
Furniture
Wicker Outdoor Sectional | Umbrella and Base | Rug | Armless Lounge Chair | Fire Pit | Terracotta Stool
Decor
Beige Concrete Planter | Steel Box Planter | Terracotta Vase | Table Lamp | Green Lantern | Outdoor Dining Table | Dining Chairs | Dining Armchairs | Cooler
Defining the Space
Luckily for these guys, they have a really large deck. When we approached them about this project they were immediately on board, and spent the next few weeks getting it ready. Power washing, sanding, painting the rails, staining the surface, the works. The weeknight text updates were our favorite part. Nothing like a friend sending a photo at 9pm covered in sawdust with the look of someone who has just discovered how it feels to spend 4 hours with a palm sander.
With a deck that size, we knew the key was zoning, meaning defining the different types of outdoor living spaces. When you give the different areas a purpose, suddenly the brain relaxes and it knows where to go, what to do there, and how long to stay. If you have limited space and only have room for one zone, that is completely fine… not everything needs to be a compound.
A Cozy Seating Area
This is a great place for morning coffee, or wine on a warm evening. Also, just as good for sitting there to dissociate for a moment, something we feel is deeply underrated.
The focal point of this area is the outdoor fire pit. We added one to our own back deck a couple of years ago and use it nearly every night, so we're not exactly neutral on the subject. This one is propane and comes with a lid that lets it double as a coffee table, which is the kind of design detail that makes you feel like you've got your life together even when you don't.
For seating we went big with this super large sectional, which provides comfortable seating for our friends, their two boys, and their dog of course. The best spot to get some quality time together!
To make it feel like an actual outdoor room, we grounded everything with a vibrant, low-profile rug that’s easy to clean, or even hose it down when the kids do what kids do. We added lounge chairs for even more seating, a terracotta side table for drinks, and a cordless lamp. We also added concrete planters full of lush greenery, because nothing makes a space feel more alive.
Creating an Outdoor Dining Room
Dinner on the deck, working from home (or at least pretending to), and spending time together… this outdoor dining area handles it all beautifully.
For this zone we pulled from some of the same elements we used in our outdoor makeover at The Landing Place last year, specifically this umbrella, which is enormous in the best possible way and comes with a teak base that doubles as extra planter real estate. We love a piece that can do two things.
We added these planters along the edges of this outdoor seating area. They are corten steel and weather like the most beautiful thing I have ever seen. We planted them with cottage style perennials to create a green wall, helping to soften everything. Now if these perennials survive winter, we will have to find out next year, but we are optimistic.
Around the corner from their outdoor grill station, we added an eight-person dining table and these really fun green dining chairs that have a slatted design so rainwater drains right through which means no sitting down in a puddle, or pooling. And, they are stackable for storage.
The result is an outdoor oasis with multiple seating areas that gives our friends a reason to actually stop working on the house for five minutes and remember why they bought it.
Final Thoughts
Here's what we've learned after doing this a few times now: we never regret the outdoor spaces we create, we only regret waiting to do it. A outdoor living room done well becomes the room you didn't know your house was missing. It’s where the best conversations happen, and where you actually decompress instead of just moving from one indoor screen to another. It doesn't have to be complicated. It just has to be yours.
Happy Summer!
