One of the widely popular trends in modern homes is seamlessly blending indoor and outdoor spaces. With an established flow between the two areas, you create a larger living space that is light, spacious, and can provide you with an area where you can entertain more guests. Additionally, connecting your indoor space with nature provides an abundance of benefits you may not expect.

But it’s not an easy feat to get that perfect balance that blurs the boundaries between the home and the garden. How does one artfully bring elements of the outdoors inside and vice versa? Here are some ideas on how to achieve seamless blending of the exterior and the interior living spaces.

Tips for Blending Indoor and Outdoor Spaces

#1 Walls Down, Glass Up

Blur the distinctions of your home and the outdoors by removing dividers or walls that separate them. In their place, install wide sliding doors or tall glass windows which makes the combined space feel peaceful and serene and creates a grand sense of space.

#2 Keep the View Open

Don’t let pillars, trees, and other unnecessary large furniture or objects obstruct the view of your breathtaking, immaculately designed outdoor space. The aim of seamlessly blending the indoors and outdoors is to create a free-flowing space, after all. Make sure your living area looks out towards the highlights of your outdoor area.

#3 Add Functional Rooms

Another good tip is to install functional rooms that are traditionally found indoors, like kitchens and bathrooms. Outdoor kitchens are especially great for creating a social, relaxed atmosphere for you and your guests as you cook and mingle. It’s perfect for a barbecue party!

You can also have an open-plan, semi-outdoor bathroom oasis by utilising the awkward and extra space and corners of the lawn that face onto your indoor bathrooms. Replace the wall with a sliding door- but wait, what about your privacy? You can cover the glass with blinds, or if you want to get more creative, plant some bamboo or leafy fronds.

#4 Have a Single Theme for Both Areas

You can unify your two spaces by ensuring that you have a single design theme. Repetition is the key to making the outdoor living area feel like a natural home extension. The best kind of decor which can enhance the seamless crossover effect you are aiming for is bold and rustic wooden pieces. Make smart and artful use of indoor-style furniture outdoors, such as sofas, chairs, and cushions. Additionally, you can make the two areas appear cohesive by paving the patio with tiles in the same colour as your interior flooring.

Renovating the Right Way: Consult an Expert

Creating and building an indoor-outdoor living design requires experts in the field. It’s crucial to have the right support and a complete, clearly detailed plan which you can only get when you use professional designer builders.

For all your renovation and home extension needs, Bayside Extensions is here to lend you a hand. We’ve got the magic to make your dream home come to life! Our Brighton extension project is just one of the many dream homes that our professional team of designers and builders made come true.

Having a family lounge at your home is a great way to create a space where you can relax, unwind, have fun, and bond with friends and family.

With that being said, you’ll want to make sure your home’s family lounge gives off a welcoming feel and atmosphere.

Designing a Modern Family Lounge

Putting together a beautiful and modern family lounge starts with detailed planning and brainstorming. Here are some tips on how to design a modern family lounge.

1. Check the space you have.

Before choosing a theme and deciding on what furniture you’re going to need for your family lounge, you have to make sure that you’ll have enough space for everyone to move around. If you’re not careful, you’ll end up with a room that feels too cramped or cluttered.

The family lounge should be relaxing without leaving out style and function. It is why you should check the amount of space you have before deciding on a theme or everything else.

2. Choose a theme.

It’s easy to feel overwhelmed when designing your family lounge as it is a room that will see a lot of use. Even if it sounds fun to involve the whole family in designing the area, it’s always better to seek the help of experts to achieve a balanced and consistent room in both design and function.

By hiring experts, you can incorporate elements that your family will need, and save yourself the trouble of trying to make all those elements work together to achieve the best result for everyone.

3. Give it a personal touch.

While letting an expert do it for you is the way to go, you can still give your family lounge a personal vibe that you will enjoy and appreciate. Adding a personal touch will give your lounge character and a homey feel.

An expert will incorporate design elements with your personal pieces to come up with a modern but personal family lounge for your home.

4. Consider having separate adult and child zones.

Having kids can make it difficult to maintain a consistent theme and design for your family areas. You might want to consider creating a separate area for adults and children especially if you have little ones running around the house.

If you’re concerned about execution, getting a design specialist is the best move. They’ll have the skills to come up with a beautiful lounge that works for you and your family.

5. Make it functional.

On top of making a family lounge aesthetically pleasing, you can also build it to serve as an entertainment room or living space at the same time.

This works especially if you have limited space at home or if you’re thinking about using your family lounge as a space that you can use for special occasions and receive guests. Talk to your designer or builders about adding functional pieces of furniture or appliances in your family lounge without sacrificing design.

Designing a family lounge plays a huge role in setting the entire look of your home. Discover and learn more about modern home designs. Contact Bayside Extensions for more information.

Modern designs for lounges and living spaces are a trend these days, and for a good reason. As the antithesis of traditional design, modernism highlights simplicity, function, and cleanliness. It embraces and artfully utilises straight, clean lines, bare surfaces, muted colour palettes and streamlined furniture, making the rooms feel more spacious and seamless.

Which Modern Lounge Design Is for You?

Many types of looks can be considered modern for your living room, each unique and ideal in different ways for a homeowner’s tastes and needs. What kind of modern lounge do you like?

Warm and Inviting

There’s a common misconception that modern designs are cold since they often feature bold, angular lines and cool colours. Several modern lounge designs actually display elements that are naturally warm and cozy, like deep-coloured woods, stone, and textured tiles. Open fireplaces are an excellent, aesthetic choice for this kind of style.

Open and Spacious

Consider open plan living, or blending your living space and the dining area. An open floor plan has become one of the most popular trends over the years as there is a growing need for function and efficiency at home. Most modern designs involve fewer walls and hallways, creating a more welcoming and open space ideal for families.

Minimalist

Less is more when it comes to this style; the beauty of minimal furnishings is that it lets the design speak for itself. A minimalist design demands a simple colour scheme and careful choices for furniture and decor pieces. For example, a white lounge goes fantastically with striking black-and-white pieces. Give the space a vibrant pop by adding accents such as yellow pillows or indoor plants and flowers.

High-class and Refined

Glass and stainless steel are perfect materials to use for a sophisticated, sleek lounge aesthetic. Try mixing high-contrasting furniture, colours and materials as well; you can pair colours like black and white to create a high-class, urban feel, or match old and new pieces, like a sleek bench under a vintage desk for a unique appeal.

Serene and Natural

A modern style that embraces serenity and nature might be the perfect design for a lounge with a view and lots of natural light. Wood, stone and metals are the key materials to use here. Using indoor plants, wooden floors, and earthy furniture unites the interior and the outdoors into one, seamless image. Nature-inspired colours would work best for a lounge in this style; think delicate blues, sunny yellows and oranges, shades of brown, and calm greens.

Classic and Luxe

The modern classic design is what you get by mixing classic styles and modern touches. This interior is perfect if you want a minimalist yet deluxe, sophisticated space brought by high-quality, luxurious materials and pieces. The hallmark colours of the modern classic design include the classical palette of grey, black, white, brown, and beige.

Designing Your Lounge

These are just some of our favourite modern lounge designs that are worth considering.

Should these modern lounge ideas inspire you to switch up the look of your living room, it’s best to consult a professional designer-builder. Our design and build team at Bayside Extensions would love to help transform your house into a modern home. Check our projects for reference!

The living room is often referred to as the heart of the home. Rightfully so because it is often where we spend most of our time whether alone, with family and friends, or entertaining guests.

Whether spacious or small, your living room should be the place where you can be comfortable at all times. It is where you can sit down and do what you like at the end of a long day and not worry about anything else.

Here are some of the ways you can make a living room cosy and inviting.

1. Buy a comfortable couch.

It is a comfortable piece of furniture that you can use for you, your family and your guests to lounge, or even lie down to take a nap. If you think you might be using it for relaxing, then choose a couch that is long enough to accommodate you and is soft enough to allow your body to truly rest. Either way, this is a high use piece of furniture so ensure you spend some time looking for the right piece that will suit your needs.

2. Use ample soft furnishings.

While we’re still talking about things that are soft, you should never forget to add rugs or cushions to your living room. Cushions are not just for the couch either, consider placing them on chairs and even invest in large floor cushions if your space allows. Also, with the right colours and textures, your pillows and rugs can serve as visual accents to the rest of the room.

3. Let in some natural light.

A well-lit room truly feels like home and the best way to achieve this is by letting in some sunlight. Focus on making the most of the light you have, or think about creating large windows to let the light in. Skylights are also a good option if your space won’t allow for extra windows. Your living room will be warmer and more inviting, and your guests will never want to leave!

4. Indoor plants and flowers.

Indoor plants can change the look and feel of your home. Along with creating a beautiful and inviting space for all to enjoy, they help to freshen up the area. Flowers look and smell great so having them in your living room as well is a definite plus. So if you want your living room to be your place of relaxation, adding a variety of indoor plants and some vases full of colourful flowers will have you well on your way.

5. Add books and bookshelves.

A stereotypical image of a cosy room is that of a person sitting comfortably on the couch, sipping a hot beverage while reading a book. A good book can keep you company and entertained any time you may want to cosy up. It’s a good idea to have some books within reach or even better, have a bookshelf installed and fill it with books that you’ve enjoyed or are planning to read.

We Can Help You

Are you looking into a renovation or extension project to help improve the look and functionality of your home? Take a look at our finished projects if you need a reliable Bayside Builder or give us a call on 03 9596 0368. We can turn your dream home into a reality.