Al Fresco Indoor-Outdoor Living Room
Even four-seasons rooms can be uncomfortable on the coldest and hottest days of the year. So when husband-and-wife business owners bought this 9,000-square-foot mountain-modern Boston Heights home with a 620-square-foot indoor-outdoor living room in 2021, they wanted to make it truly usable year-round for hosting large business events and intimate family gatherings.
Hudson-based interior designer Laura Yeager Smith remodeled the living room, a natural passage from the house to the outdoor pool and patio, into a comfy, durable space boasting a wood-burning fieldstone fireplace, radiant-heat flooring, air conditioning and ceiling fans.
“It allows you to use it in the winter, connected to the house as an extension of the home,” Smith says of the result. “And it can be an extension of the home or the outdoors in the summer.”
The following are some other features that make it a year-round hangout.
LaCantina doors: The glass doors between the kitchen and indoor-outdoor living room collapse and stack in the wall. “It feels like a seamless transition between the two spaces when they’re open,” Smith says. The effect is enhanced by the large-format medium-gray porcelain tile floor and reclaimed-barn-wood-style ceiling cladding and beams from Olde Wood in Magnolia, Ohio.
Counter bars: Modified aluminum-clad garage doors roll up to reveal windows above twin poolside-terrace counter bars. “Guests can sit at those stools and mingle with the people who are inside,” Smith says. She also installed cabinetry topped with weather-resistant leathered granite and an under-counter True beverage center for mixing drinks.
Grill station: A range hood over the Lynx gas grill vents smoke outside so the homeowners can comfortably barbecue even on the coldest days — with all doors and windows closed. The grill was built into cabinetry stained the same black as the hood shroud and flanked by a beverage center and refrigerated drawers. “You can have your hamburgers, hot dogs ... in that drawer, really easily accessible to the grill,” Smith says.
Furniture: The fully upholstered sectional, daybed and pouf ottomans by Lee Industries, designed for indoors or outdoors, can stand up to everything from ketchup spills to dripping-wet bathing suits — they have built-in sloping drains. “The cushions are made of material that will dry out within four hours if they receive a hard rain,” Smith says. And the frame covers, like the cushions, are covered in an acrylic Sunbrella fabric that can be removed and machine-washed.