Patio décor and dilemma (Leaf Chronicle Article)

So, guess what I bought last weekend? Yup—more seating for the patio! It couldn’t be helped. It’s actually another glider-style bench, but it’s made of wood and painted white. I had to do some shifting, but it’s already in place and ready for the return of good weather!

The other outdoor project which we always manage to find a way to deal with, but has never been done “right” is our music source. We enjoy listening to music while we’re outside, but it tends to find its place on a table right behind the sofa, which creates two problems: the people sitting on the sofa cannot hear the conversations, due to the music, and the sound system takes up the valuable tabletop surface I referred to in the previous post. Yet, as I’m writing this, I’ve had an epiphany—and to think, this has been an issue for nearly nine years—you are witnessing the slowly turning wheels of creative problem solving! About fifteen years ago, I gave Darren some outdoor speakers, so we could enjoy music on our back porch at our house in Georgia. We have been storing those speakers in the hopes that we’ll figure out how to run the speaker wire from our family room stereo to the back of house. (Okay, we know how to do it, it’s just that neither one of us is too eager to climb under the house and belly crawl to the hole where we could drop the speaker wires—so we’re content pretending it “just can’t be done.”) Then, last year I gave Darren a fairly decent sound system that can be used with an IPod. It just occurred to me that we can set-up that system in our backroom, add the outdoor speakers (no “under house crawling” required) and there I’ve solved two of our problems! Music, check! Tabletop space, check!

Have any of you ever thought of adding one of those really nice outdoor kitchens? Darren figures that considering how much time we spend outside, he’s putting it on his wish list of things he’s like to add. I love the idea, but many of the designs I’ve seen always look so—ummm—planned. You know what I mean? They’re usually ensconced in a big stone wall-like design.

photo:  badbullmedia.com

Looks a little "planned,” doesn’t it?  Pretty, but not my style.

I think I would have a hard time meshing it with the “gathered” look of the rest of the patio area. I’m going to have to give it some more thought.

photo:  outdoorkitchendesign.org

This is a little more my style.

I’m wondering if any of you have an outdoor kitchen and would share your likes and dislikes about it. I’d love to hear from you. This isn’t anything I plan to start in the immediate future—it’s just a good idea to start formulate a plan and goals. It’s an even better idea to learn from those of you with firsthand experience.

 

2010 Southern Living Georgia Idea House: Courtyard Potting Bench < 2010 Southern Living Georgia Idea House - Southern Living

My mom pointed out a way-cool potting bench cum-outdoor sink in a recent issue of Southern Living—I’d love to incorporate this!

So, I’ve worked-out one issue and created another. I want to thank you for helping me talk through the stereo dilemma—you’ve been very helpful! I hope you’ll let me know if I can help you with any of your own.

Thanks for your indulgence!