2016 was my year of renovation. We added a second story to our house (4 bedrooms and a bathroom, plus living area for the kids) and gutted the entire house (except for my office), remodelling it, moving every room’s location, except for the laundry. It’s been huge. So many decisions to make on the fixtures and fittings.
It was a seriously major renovation and I’m super glad that it’s finished now, even though my builders were fantastic, it’s just nice not to be living in a rental house and working in the dust and noise anymore.
One of my favourite parts of the reno was adding a large outdoor living area which was sorely missing from the house previously.
From an open space (that used to house the trampoline), there now stands a fabulous covered deck with room for both eating and lounging.
I’ve always loved throwing barbeques in summer so our new outdoor living space is perfect for entertaining as it overlooks the pool.
Once it was built, there have been a myriad of decorating choices to make.
We already had an outdoor dining setting, so we chose a lounge that would work well in the space and that included similar elements of design.
Then, onto the soft furnishings. Here Carpet Call has come to my rescue with a great range of designer outdoor rugs, perfect for any outdoor living space.
Here I’m loving the blues and turquoise of this Summer rug which works so easily and calmly as a colour scheme. It works perfectly with the greys of the couch and privacy screening.
Cleo and I love sitting out on the deck having our lunch most days, and my assistant Kate loves to get outside for a breath of fresh air and sunshine when she’s with us too.
Cleo is more than happy about this new rug addition to the deck as it gives her one more soft place to lie down (which is how she likes to spend her time when she’s not running at full pace or pleading with me for treats!) and I love how soft underfoot these rugs are too. They just make the outdoor space more cosy and comfortable.
I also like to gather the family for a meal on the deck on a balmy summer evening.
And it’s easy to use a rug to delineate your spaces. Here I’ve used the rug to anchor the eating zone.
In the mornings it’s great to be able to breakfast at the breakfast bar (or champagne bar, depending on the time of day) overlooking the garden and pool!
Now adding some more colour really makes it feel more like a party.
Here I’m styling a more colourful option, this Summer rug with it’s fun pops of yellow, teal and orange on a background of grey, that again works perfectly with my outdoor lounge and the painted screening.
Outdoor rugs really help to create a more comfortable feeling to the deck and provide great inspiration for other decorating choices, from table placemats to cushion colour schemes.
Outdoor living spaces are something of great value in our temperate climate and I love the opportunity to get outside for lunch most days and dinner too (we included an outdoor heater in our plan so that we could use the outdoor living space more of the year.
I love that you can browse for rugs online (Carpet Call’s online collection is huge) choose one of their many affordable rugs, which will be delivered to your local Carpet Call store so you can pick it up, and you can try it out in your space for 5 days, returning it within this time if it’s not the right colour or size for your space.
Why not brighten up and add some comfort to your outdoor living area, you can buy online or go into one of the many Carpet Call suburban stores around Australia. They have so many high quality rugs for both indoor and out in a huge range of materials, colours, styles, shapes and sizes. If you’re not sure what will work best in your space, just ask one of their knowledgeable and friendly staff for assistance who can help you with all of your flooring needs. They helped us choose the carpet for our bedrooms as well, and we just love it.
So, tell me, which styling option do you prefer? Shall I go with the calm, serene blues or the fun multi-coloured rug?
Your new outdoor space is fabulous and I think the aqua stripe rug is a real winner, so fresh and relaxing just to look at! The flowered rug is pretty too, but I prefer the stripe and think that it would be easier to find other prints in the aqua colourway to add accessories and such to. Congratulations on such a beautiful space!
Wow, Imogen, I am so happy for you! You are such a hard working girl you deserve a quiet place to refresh and renew. I agree with Bernadette, the stripe will give you more options if you should decide to celebrate the seasons,
My husband and I have built and remodeled many homes in our lifetime, whew! It’s not easy. Many couples discover differences they didn’t even know they had. I hope this was not the case for your family.
You look beautiful, enjoy your new home.
A faithful fan,
Pat
Love the new deck. Thank you for sharing. Could you please tell me more about the privacy screening? We’re planning to add a pergola this summer and are looking for ideas for privacy. (Our back yard is very shallow, thankfully the side yard is not.)
Cheers.
What a fabulous space – lucky you! Living in a studio apartment in New York City, I really appreciate the beautiful outside dining area overlooking a pool (wow!!). I think I like the striped rug the best but both are lovely.
Hi Imogen! I love what you have done here with your deck. Your eye for style obviously extends to interior decorating as well as dressing. I prefer the cool blue rug for your space and the colours also look very you. Where did you get your amazing dress from? I love it too.
Ahh the dress I picked up at a little boutique in a shopping centre on the Gold Coast – no idea what it was called – just one of those kind of quaint suburban places!
Congratulations Imogen – I too am so happy for you for having such a lovely outdoor area! That is really lovely! In my opinion, the striped carpet just add so much more calmness and style to the area and whatever colour of the season you would like to add would still harmonize lovely with it. To me, the striped carpet is like your swimmingpool – you can add whatever pop of colour next to your swimmingpool, but its colour is going to stay blue and likewise your striped carpet will always bring the outdoors, the blue sky and swimmingpool and natures calm to your lovely area, regardless of how much of an energetic party you decide to host there. The flower rug doesn’t seem to bring the same stylishness and calm to the area, but that is just my 2c worth. I also love your privacy screen – lovely! And you look so relaxed in that outfit – is it a dress or just a sarong? The colour is striking! Very lovely you are – as always!
Thanks Summerdays – it’s a dress not a sarong. Yes the blue matches my pool – good choice!
I like the striped one. The colours are just you.
Amazing! Love love love! With the floral carpet guess you have more colour options for accessorizing. I think adding that orange or yellow to the couch is spontanious and creative. I like the striped too but would be the saver choice.
Gorgeous outdoor space! it must have been hard meanwhile, but I guess now you feel it was worth it- I like the freshness and calmness of the aqua carpet better. The privacy screens are lovely- in Spain most of us live in appartments, so you can imagine how envious we may feel about a terrific deck like that… Your sarong-dress-tunic is to die for, also! Congratulations and thanks for sharing!
Lovely peaceful space I am sure you will get alot of use out of it. I love the multi-colour carpet personally cos I love colour and graphics but I can see why all the others would agree with the other. Both are great.
It’s lovely, Imogen! It’s nice to see you relaxing a little and enjoying your beautiful home.
Lovely oasis look. The striped rug is my choice too. Your privacy screens are like floating art work, love them. Did you have them painted, or are they available commercially? The two eating areas are great and your views must be fun. Enjoy your serene space.
We painted the screens ourselves to match the house. They are in a product called Weathertex which is a wood based/outdoor product.
Hi Imogen. Love your outdoor living space. Where did you buy the outdoor lounge setting from? Looking to update my outdoor area too!
It was from an Outdoor Living place in Ringwood (Victoria), Bunnings sell somethign similar too.