Creating Indoor and Outdoor Spaces for Health and Vitality

(Page 3 of 3)

May/June 2002
By Carol Venolia 
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An outdoor living area need not be expensive or elaborate. A bench, some potted plants, a bird feeder, and a small fountain can transform a space. At any budget, it’s a good idea to start with a few simple changes, spend some time in the space, and make other modifications as the need or inspiration arises.

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The key is to notice what the elements give you—sun, wind, humidity, precipitation, vista—then marry that microclimate to your needs by choosing among some simple climate modifiers: plants (for shade and beauty, to attract wildlife); water (a fountain or birdbath); fabric (an awning or umbrella); screens (to keep out bugs or calm the wind); structure (a solid roof or wall, trellises, arbors); glazing (glass, plastic); and thermal mass (stone, concrete, or earth that absorbs heat and reradiates it when air temperatures drop).

You can use movable climate modifiers to extend the range of your indoor/outdoor room: Retractable blinds or deciduous vines can shade a sunspace in hot weather; operable or removable windows make a screened porch more comfortable in cool weather; an umbrella or awning can bring temporary shade to an open patio.

Every stage of creating your indoor/outdoor place can bring you to life. Getting to know your site attunes you to the elements and cycles of nature. Designing your outdoor room deepens your awareness of your needs and of how little climate modification is required for your comfort. And inhabiting the place gives you the ongoing experience of not just longing for the natural world, but being part of it.

Carol Venolia is an architect, author of Healing Environments: Your Guide to Indoor Well-Being, and former publisher of Building with Nature. She invites you to share your outdoor living experiences with her at carolv@naturalhomemag.com. Carol will present a Natural Home workshop at SolFest in Hopland, California, August 24 to August 25, 2002.

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