Outdoor Living Spaces Becoming Greater

Outdoor Living Spaces Becoming Greater

 

Americans are involved in a new "space race." According to the American Institute of Architects, Americans are making their outside spaces more and more elaborate - and more like their inside ones.

 

The outdoor living room trend is a wholesale repackaging of the typical patio/pool area into something much more elaborate and comfortable. It goes way beyond lounge chairs and barbecues. Outdoor living rooms often resemble plush, luxurious parlors. They feature not only cushiony furniture, they even have entertainment centers with built-in plasma screen televisions and hi-fi systems.

 

Builder Alon Barzilay, who is building two condo developments near Orlando that feature communal outdoor living rooms, says the trend has built from practically nothing five years ago to become an amenity of choice for the affluent.

 

"A few years ago," he says, "all you heard about was cocooning, people just wanted to retreat indoors; they were trapped in their houses. Now, everyone is into socialization and meeting the neighbors."

 

Read more about Americans' latest craze for making outdoors greater…