Do you have an 'outdoor room' - and what do you use it for?

[canesisters]

I keep seeing all these things about design ideas for an outdoor room, and furniture for the outdoor room, and building projects for the outdoor room... and I was wondering if anyone actually HAD one - and if you do, what do you use it for?
Is it just a more comfortable place to cook on the grill? Is it only useful if you do a lot of entertaining, like garden parties and summer BBQs?

OR ..... IF you had one, what WOULD you use it for? And what would it look like?

 

[Beekissed]

We have porches...but I doubt they could be called outdoor rooms, though it's sort of what we use them for

I think they are lovely and I found a few on the net that I liked the looks of, though I'd have much, much more comfy furniture and a hanging swing, and maybe even a swing bed on it.

Here's a pretty one....but the furniture seems a tad minimal and spindly for such a big and sturdy room.

We'd use it for entertaining, for visiting with family, for Sunday afternoon naps in the early spring or in the fall, for keeping the canning heat out of the house, for solitude and for fellowship.

Could never have such a thing here, though....the chickens would make a mess of it.

 

[Nyboy]

I have a outdoor room which I use a lot spring and fall. Floor is paving blocks, walls are iron trellis ( still waiting for vines to cover) at one end is hot tub with several iron and cushion chairs. Middle is a iron and glass dinning table with more chairs. Other end is BBQ with smaller iron table. There is 3 different gates to it, one day will be very private if vines ever take off. Have double spot light and lots of candles have about 8 tiki touches surrounding it. Best place to drink 1st cup of coffee in Am.

 

[aftermidnight]

Maybe not quite what you are looking for but here's mine.
My outdoor room is quite small it evolved when we put in a small Koi pool, the only space we had was in the back corner of our yard. It was dug under an old ornamental cherry tree, sooooo, we had to put put a roof over to keep out flowers and leaves when they fell.
My garden room such as it is was born, not large enough to do any entertaining but a lovely spot to sit and relax. .
I wanted a small spillway so we built a U shaped planter around the pool. We latticed in the walls being the posts were already in holding up the clear fiberglass roof, there are two entrances in which I planned to put doors on but haven't got around to it. Although we don't have a problem very often we have lost fish, racoon, mink, otter maybe but don't think we've had a heron in there. We have only had to net the pool once or twice. In front of the pool is a wooden deck just large enough for a bistro set and a couple of lounge chairs. (sorry, haven't a picture) It's a lovely place to sit in the morning or late afternoon and evening but too hot mid day.

A few pictures.

Spillway shortly after it was built, we collected the rock ourselves.

This is about all you can see of it now, the rocks are pretty much covered with fern.

Left corner of the planter.

Right side.

Right latticed wall, this wall is pretty well covered in vines now.

Showing a bit of the deck.

We threw the shubunkins in with the koi when we filled in our other pool, when the koi get too big for our pool we give them away and get some smaller ones. One of the few years we had to protect the fish, if the doors were on we wouldn't have to do this .

These pictures were taken in different years, the ferns have really taken over and we've been removing a lot, the daphne odora marginata in the right corner has got really big and tall for it's spot and needs some trimming, it blooms in February/March, it's lovely to sit up there with a coffee and enjoy the fragrance when the rest of the garden is still asleep. I couldn't grow this shrub out in the open, just this little bit of protection makes all the difference.
Annette

 

[dickiebird]

Here's a link to my out door room!!!
http://blog.northernforestcanoetrail.org/wp-content/uploads/2009/05/luxury-outhouse2.jpg?w=225

THANX RICH

 

[Smart Red]

. . . the daphne odora marginata in the right corner has got really big and tall for it's spot and needs some trimming, it blooms in February/March, it's lovely to sit up there with a coffee and enjoy the fragrance when the rest of the garden is still asleep. I couldn't grow this shrub out in the open, just this little bit of protection makes all the difference.
Annette

I love daphnes. We had a "Carol Mackie (Daphne × burkwoodii) beside the front door for many years. It's so fragrant in the evening. Still have one in the first-ever planting bed. Your daphne (odora marginata) is lovely. Probably not one I could grow here, though. . . . unless I had an outside/inside room for protection.

 

[Beekissed]

Here's a link to my out door room!!!
http://blog.northernforestcanoetrail.org/wp-content/uploads/2009/05/luxury-outhouse2.jpg?w=225

THANX RICH

That's a cute one! We are getting ready to revamp our "outdoor" room this fall...making it bigger and turning it around to face another direction. We don't entertain there but it sure comes in handy when the power goes out here.

 

[so lucky]

I suspect most of the outdoor rooms we see in magazines and on line are in Oregon and California. For most of the rest of the country that has such inclement weather, it is just an itch you can't scratch if you have a pretty outdoor room and you can't use it.
That being said, I did actually sit outdoors for a while this evening without being forced to.

 

[baymule]

Our outdoor room is our new screened in porch. It is so hot right now that we can't stay outside on it. It is so dry that everything is covered in dust. When I look at pictures of these fabulous outdoor rooms I have to wonder just who is keeping it so picture perfect and pretty? I'm like you @Beekissed My dogs, chickens, sheep, horses would invade and make themselves at home. because we let them out in the "yard"

 

[PennyJo]

We have a screen room on the front of our house also you can go in the sliding
door to the house of the man door into the office we put an air conditioning in the office is a very
small room with only one two windows that open and no shade.. We will sit in the screen mornings
with coffee or later at night we are putting a ceiling fan in the screen room but still will the
temps run past 80 like today again the house stays cool our large air conditioner is in the living room
and we have a very nice ceiling fan there also.. I have to say thou that some of the rooms you
showed ours is more shabby sheik