Overcoming the Challenges to Bring the Feel of the Outdoors Inside in South Florida

The tropical climate of South Florida surrounds us with stunning vegetation year-round. But our ability to enjoy the lush, colorful landscape is hampered by excessive heat and humidity that can make even the most diehard lovers of summer desperate to burrow in an air-conditioned cocoon.

Is it possible to bring the reinvigorating, soothing feel of the outdoors inside? With a quarter of a century of experience as a luxury general contractor in Fort Lauderdale, our team has helped numerous clients take advantage of the best of both the indoors and the outdoors in various creative and satisfying ways. Options at your disposal will be unique because every home and family is unique. We’d love to talk to you about the possibilities for bringing the feel of the outdoors inside your space, but here are some general concepts to get the thought process started.

Reduce Separation with Glass Walls and Doors

When you look across a room and can clearly see the outdoors, it makes the space in the room feel larger and more expansive. You feel connected to what you view. So when you can incorporate glass walls or large glass sliding doors into a remodel or addition project, you blur the distinction between indoor and outdoor spaces and draw them together.

Options for glass doors used to be limited to the traditional patio sliders or French doors, but advances in engineering have created a range of new door products and glass walls designed to stand up to the challenges of our climate. Glass can be tempered to withstand the impact of objects and the power of hurricane-force winds. At the same time, the seals are created to keep out moisture and insects both in the air and on the ground. Your room can look like you’re outside without feeling like it.

For those days when the weather cooperates, large glass doors that fold or tuck into pockets can give you the option of eliminating the separation between inside and outside and enjoying an indoor-outdoor space.

Use Exterior Materials Indoors

A different way to bring the feel of the outdoors to your interior is to incorporate natural outdoor materials into your indoor decorating scheme—and vice versa. Elements such as natural stone and organically-finished wood subtly signal an outdoor effect. The impact can be increased by using light finishes that allow the wood grain to show through and installing pieces in random patterns rather than standard geometric schemes.

Incorporating large plants or water features can have an even greater impact that incorporates elements of sound and smell to engage the senses and establish an outdoor identity indoors.

There are options for adding subtle water effects that can be very soothing and fit any style, from contemporary to rustic. Choosing a specialized style of décor such as Asian Zen or Mediterranean opens up possibilities to incorporate unique features from cultures that created the indoor-outdoor lifestyle.

Even if you opt for a minimalist or transitional design, carrying over indoor color themes to the outdoor space can extend the sensation of unity between the indoor and outdoor areas. In addition, the use of similar or complementary furniture in adjoining indoor and outdoor spaces can bring the feeling of the outdoors inside.

Better Connect to the Light and Scenery Outside with Corner Windows

Installing wrap-around corner windows can open up your home in ways you never could have imagined. Whether the new view features views of the water or just your sideyard, the added light and natural color create a panorama that can add an amazing new perspective to the entire room.

Corner windows not only add light to a room, they also remove traditional obstructions. By doing so, they change expectations and open possibilities. A corner window scheme works well in both new additions and, in most cases, the remodeling of existing rooms.

Install Consistent Flooring

To connect your indoor and outdoor spaces and bring the feel of nature inside your home, it is often very effective to use consistent flooring both inside and outside. Depending on the situation, you might need to adapt the outdoor surface for safety, such as using stone tile with a non-slip surface. Choosing flooring in light, neutral, soothing tones subconsciously evokes the sandy soil of South Florida. When the same flooring continues outside and throughout the interior, it creates a cohesive natural flow.

You can create a consistent indoor/outdoor flooring scheme using a variety of different materials, both natural and manmade. Limestone tiles, for instance, reveal natural patterns fossilized into the stone that can literally bring elements of the outdoors into the comfort of a climate-controlled indoor space.  

Take a Thoughtful Approach to Lighting

Lighting is a critical feature that is often neglected during Fort Lauderdale luxury home remodel projects and additions, and that’s a shame because it impacts both the mood and usefulness of a space in untold numbers of ways. In addition to adding or expanding windows to add natural light, it is wise to give serious consideration to the ways you can use electric lighting in the indoor and outdoor spaces. Indirect lighting can highlight features with a subtle elegance that captures attention without harsh glare.

Indoors, work with your designer from the early planning stages to determine the most effective options for ensuring all corners of the room have adequate lighting for reading and other activities when necessary. Full illumination makes a space more useful and can elevate mood. It is equally important to have low lighting options to soften the space at times when bright light is unnecessary or unwanted. By planning lighting from the beginning, you can incorporate lighting into the overall design and make it more effective and less obtrusive.

When you’re using glass to make the outdoors more noticeable from inside during the day time, you can use lighting to make the outdoors more visible after dark as well. As with schemes for interior lighting, plans for exterior lighting should also be multifaceted. You need practical lighting to illuminate walking paths and other features, as well as spotlights and other lighting effects to highlight trees, fountains, and other landscape features. If you like a whimsical touch, string lights add a festive glow. For optimum benefit, you should be able to control all exterior lighting elements from indoors so you can bring the evening magic indoors with one swipe on your phone or keypad.  

Talk to an Experienced Contractor About the Most Effective Ways to Add the Outdoor Feel to Your Indoor Spaces

Whether you are putting on an addition or renovating existing space in your home, it is important to strategize early on to take advantage of the best opportunities to incorporate elements of the outdoors inside your home. At Marcela Montoya Remodeling, we’ve been helping clients turn their dreams into reality in South Florida for over 25 years. We understand the products and options that work best in our tropical and sometimes tempestuous climate, and we can help you develop a space you will never want to leave. Adding outdoor elements to the interior of your home is recommended for both mental and physical wellbeing, particularly as we age. To discuss how our team can bring the feel of the outdoors into your space with a luxury kitchen remodel, we invite you to schedule a consultation with owner and designer Marcela Montoya. Contact us now to get started.