Home Design Trends That Bring the Outdoors In

Great modern-day design can create incredible opportunities for indoor and outdoor living and connecting people to their beautiful surroundings; it’s all about taking full advantage of the stellar views and climate that we enjoy in the West. At the same time, it’s also important to incorporate thermal comfort and a sense of shelter into the home.

Here five design ideas to help create that ideal form and function.

1. Floor-to-ceiling window walls with zero-threshold, large operable doors and transparent glass corners bring the outside world into the heart of the home.

2. Consistent interior and exterior floor, wall and ceiling materials blur the line between the inside and outside of the home.

3. Integrate the home into the site by incorporating large overhangs, offsetting structural columns and beams from the glass to minimize the wall, and extending interior stone walls out into the site to create terraces; each of these strategies plays a critical role in creating the indoor-outdoor connection.

4. Offset the abundance of glass with an artful combination of cleanly detailed, rich natural materials such as wood timbers, wood ceilings, boulder fireplace hearths and interior stone walls. This can create a cozy home that is anything but a cold, glass box.

5. Take full advantage of the West's summer climate and dramatic vistas with generously covered exterior living spaces featuring outdoor kitchens, built-in BBQs, cozy sitting areas centered around fireplaces, and built-in infrared heaters in the ceiling.

Hans Berglund is the owner of Berglund Architects, an Edwards, Colorado-based firm that specializes in custom residential design for the mountain, urban and warm weather resort environment. View the Berglund Architects profile or contact Hans Berglund at (970) 926-4301.

Content for this article provided by Berglund Architects.