Masonry Design | 13
There are so many great products available in
the marketplace, especially in outdoor furniture
that looks like it belongs inside. Another little tip.
Do not ignore the side of your house facing the
outdoor room. Treat it just like a wall inside of
your home. Would you ever have a blank wall in
a living room? Then why would you have a blank
wall outside? There are so many decorative wall
hangings for outside that would add a great
subtle touch to your design.
That brings us into our next phase of design.
FLOW. Flow is designing your room to function
when you are entertaining a small or a large
group of family and friends. If you are building an
outdoor kitchen, here are some of the questions
you should ask. Are you going to be running in
and out of the house to grab things out of the
fridge? Are you going to have an outdoor
refrigerator in your design? How do your guests
get to the bathroom? More likely than not, guests
will be going in and out of the house more than a
few times over the course of the evening. Make
sure to design for that. Design your cooking area
in a place that will allow you to easily maneuver
through the crowd without constantly bumping
into guests standing in your way.
When you are cooking in your outdoor kitchen
at the grill or your pizza oven, one of the most
frustrating things is to have people standing over
your shoulder. It only takes a few guests in your
space to create havoc when you are trying to
cook and serve food. Flow is a very important
part in designing your room. One of my favorite
design features that helps alleviate congestion
problems in outdoor kitchens is incorporating
islands. They work great inside, and work just as
well outside. Place the island in a strategic spot
to allow guests to be part of the conversation
with the person cooking and the guests sitting at
the dining table, without invading the workspace.
Freeing up the exit and entryways in and out of
the house is a must.
Always have open space. Taking time with the
details will ensure that you don’t make big
mistakes. Wasting money on the wrong design is
never an option. Time well spent working on the
flow in your designs helps get you specific on
figuring out the size of your patio or deck. I have
cut the square footage size of many patios and
decks once I focused on the flow. In a lot of
instances, it allowed me to use the extra savings
for some of those finishing touches that add so
much more to the outdoor rooms.
The last phase is hiring the right contractor. We
talked about communicating with your contractor,
now it’s time to choose. A great contractor will
take your ideas and make them better, some will
even refine your ideas to save on budget and get
a bigger bang for your buck. Make sure to look at
your potential contractor’s work. Top contractors
take pride in their work and love to show it off.
Ask to see some outdoor designs they have done
over the years. Maybe even meet former
homeowners that they have worked for. The
greatest compliment a contractor can get is when
a former client is at a dinner party or a social
event and someone in the crowd asks if they
know any designers or masons? When they jump
into the conversation and say “You have to meet
my mason or my designer” that is the best! When
former clients use the words “my contractor” you
know they were more than happy with his or her
work.
Take a deep breath, educate yourself, get
specific, and take your time with the design.
There is no rush on getting the job done ASAP.
That’s when some of the biggest and most
expensive mistakes are made. This should be a
fun process, not a stressful one. When the job is
done, you will have an outdoor room that will
create some great moments and a lot of
memories with close friends and family. It doesn’t
get much better than that!