Until we turned our backyards into extensions of our homes, we may have ventured outside only when entertaining guests or for a relaxing hour on the weekend. Now we want to use our outdoor living room year-round and every day. That is exactly what award-winning actors Mila Kunis and Ashton Kutcher have done on the balcony garden of their sustainable six-acre Beverly Hills estate. It truly is a triumph of design, architecture, and planning.
Crafted by architects Backen and Backen and interior designer Vicky Charles at Charles & Co, the outdoor living room perfectly encompasses the calm fortitude the Kunis-Kutcher family wanted to encapsulate in their serene family home.
To make the most of this ‘bonus room’, we must think creatively about how we design and decorate this extra corner. Consider the weather conditions, such as the amount of sunlight the balcony gets, how windy it can be, and of course, how much space you have, which will help when deciding which furniture to purchase or which foliage and flowers to grow.
An outdoor space, even if only a small outdoor living room, should offer all the comforts and style of an indoor living room, but also be designed with the weather, privacy, shade, and surrounding features such as patios, planting, and deck ideas in mind.
‘Your garden should always be thought of as an extension of your home, so it’s important to bring the comfort of indoors outside. One way to do this is to divide your outdoor space up by ‘rooms’, with one area for dining and another for relaxing,' says OKA’s co-founder and creative director, Sue Jones.
Take your first cue from the dominant shades and styles in the connecting indoor room and echo these outside. 'People want to see a flow from their interiors to their exteriors, and the best way to achieve this seamlessness is through creating an aesthetic that you can carry through both spaces,' says Jonny Brierley, CEO of outdoor furniture company, Moda Furnishings.
In this space, the designer decorated with browns, taupes, and the occasional pop of green and purple, the dominant colors of nature, to curate a space at one with its surroundings.
Keeping to a similar aesthetic will help create a seamless indoor-outdoor lifestyle and make your home feel aesthetically cohesive. Note how even the different materials – stone, timber, and linen – all borrow from the same color palette.
Shop the outdoor living edit
Set your outdoor living space aglow with this lantern inspired by Crate & Barrel's bestselling Batten outdoor furniture collection. The solar-powered battery makes for effortless operation, and the taupe-finished handle makes it easy to move around your porch, patio, or balcony.
Sophisticated with a modern touch, the Granada Handwoven Indoor-Outdoor Rug is a great way to create a zone in your garden. Anchoring your living room design, or adding dimensional texture to your patio furniture, its unique woven pattern lends subtle contrast without overwhelming your space.
Bring shape to your edit with this scalloped side table. The table is crafted from fiber cement with a travertine-like finish for a sophisticated end table indoors or out. This accent piece is from our exclusive Sarah Sherman Samuel collaboration and features all the trademarks of her warm, edited style.
