Outdoor Rooms You'll Love

This table, created by an Iowa garden designer, reflects the designer's love of geometry. It's a rectangle and two cylinders, furniture distilled to its structural essence. The table's legs are hard-fired terra-cotta chimney flues and the top is built out of cedar four-by-fours and four-by-twos.

A stone table that weighs more than a ton is the focal point of this outdoor dining area at a St. Louis home. The homeowners' love of Tuscan style inspired the design.

After a St. Louis couple turned a junk-filled one-car garage into a 300-square-foot kitchen, they transformed the old garage's driveway into an intimate patio area with bistro tables and potted trees arranged on a bed of low-maintenance crushed limestone. Some of the trees bear fruit used for cooking. The Provence blue tables match the color of the home's shutters, while light strings hung between 12-foot-tall poles add to the bistro ambience.

A stone fireplace and wood flooring and beams give this covered patio a rustic nature, but the wave recliner, nesting table and chair set, and carved chair say modern styling.

Honeysuckle and clematis scale a black locust arbor in this elegant Michigan courtyard. An eye-catching grass-and-stone checkerboard pattern decorates one side of the arbor; a sunken crushed-stone floor defines the dining area.

A large patio table easily accommodates six or more guests in this outdoor space. Part of a weathered column forms the table's base.

The outdoor kitchen in this Twin Cities yard is designed for the host who loves entertaining. The cooking area includes an undergrill fridge and cabinets to keep plates and utensils handy. Nearby tables and chairs provide cafelike seating.

A roofed, open-air living area, or loggia, ensures a seamless flow between indoors and out in this St. Louis home. A wood fireplace warms the area on cool nights. With the addition of draperies and portable heaters, friends and family can enjoy the space year-round.

Wood and stone add texture and character to this outdoor dining space. A timber-frame loggia featuring columns banded with hammered wrought-iron shades metal farm-style chairs and a teak table. A stone fireplace and brick pavers complete the welcoming dining area.

A fountain brings soothing sounds to this outdoor living space; vines shade the seating area for comfortable alfresco dining.

The large semicircular porch opens to expansive lake views beyond, but a rustic fireplace and columns keep the space intimate. The mosiac-top table, built from antique Italian flooring, rests on a contemporary base, adding to a room filled with dramatic attractions.

Interior room design can help your outdoor areas achieve their full potential. The free-flowing zones of this patio, which are united by reclaimed brick flooring, approximate a living room, dining room and kitchen. Homey touches, such as a cotton carpet, pendant lamps and fireplace hearth, reinforce the effect.

A spacious formal outdoor dining area, such as this one at a St. Louis home, easily accommodates large gatherings of friends and family.

The outdoor kitchen and living area include a stone fireplace, granite countertops, refrigerator and pizza oven. Imported quartz tiles on the patio are cooler than slate and provide relief for bare feet on hot days.

Subtle gray porphyry pavers tie together distinct living and dining areas in this expansive courtyard. The long, low fireplace mimics the look of an interior wall and conceals an outdoor kitchen from view.

Salvaged molding from an early-20th-century building looks like an old-world fireplace mantel in a French-inspired patio. The white wrought-iron daybed and small accents continue the vintage theme. Pots with switchgrass stand in for a fire.

A cool-tone palette spreads from the home's interior rooms to the exterior living spaces. The wood fireplace and shading pergola create a secluded yet open seating area, perfect for relaxing.

Bench, bar and fire pit are permanent. Their stonework emphasizes that, but cushions, pillows and plants soften the scene.

The little-used spot behind the house or garage makes a great place for a gathering spot. Fashion a simple setting with a gravel base and some towers of cement blocks with a wood top. Park the barbecue there and pot some plants for a little color. An umbrella in a stand casts shade if you need.