19 fresh ideas for outdoor rooms

Reduce, reuse, recycle

Windows found in an old barn were reinvented as doors leading from inside the shed to the glass greenhouse. Craigslist is a great place to look for such treasures.

• MSN Lifestyle: 20 outdoor room design ideas
  
  
  
• Twitter users: Get the latest updates from MSN Real Estate
  
  
  
• Facebook users: Become a fan of MSN Real Estate
  

Find outdoor showers

Frame it

Before turning a shovel of dirt, spend time viewing your garden from all angles to create powerful focal points like this arched view of the fountain.

• Video: Tips to grow a lush lawn

Design Center Get ideas for your yard with our inspirational outdoor rooms and direct access to real products. Click here to begin exploring

Start here

Don't know where to begin? Find one inspiring detail — the green Moroccan tiles that circle the patio launched this landscape — and take it from there.

• MSN Lifestyle: 20 outdoor room design ideas
  
  
  
• Twitter users: Get the latest updates from MSN Real Estate
  
  
  
• Facebook users: Become a fan of MSN Real Estate
  

Find outdoor showers

Borrowed landscape

Neighbors have something good going on? Incorporate it into your landscape, as with these trees spilling over the wall.

• Video: Tips to grow a lush lawn

Design Center Get ideas for your yard with our inspirational outdoor rooms and direct access to real products. Click here to begin exploring

Add magic

Why not a labyrinth (or tree house or outdoor shower)? It's your world. Live in it!

• MSN Lifestyle: 20 outdoor room design ideas
  
  
  
• Twitter users: Get the latest updates from MSN Real Estate
  
  
  
• Facebook users: Become a fan of MSN Real Estate
  

Find outdoor showers

Pergola breezeway

The wisteria-draped pergola acts as a shady tunnel contrasting with the open and bright garden beyond.

• Video: Tips to grow a lush lawn

Design Center Get ideas for your yard with our inspirational outdoor rooms and direct access to real products. Click here to begin exploring

Simple transition

A new "room" can be created with a change in flooring. Here a path of fine bluestone shifts gears into rustic gravel.

• MSN Lifestyle: 20 outdoor room design ideas
  
  
  
• Twitter users: Get the latest updates from MSN Real Estate
  
  
  
• Facebook users: Become a fan of MSN Real Estate
  

Find outdoor showers

Look down

Remember to look down from an upstairs window when designing a garden. This is where you'll best appreciate the overall plan.

Making an island works to slow down foot traffic in the garden. It's an especially good solution for a long, narrow site like this.

• Video: Tips to grow a lush lawn

Design Center Get ideas for your yard with our inspirational outdoor rooms and direct access to real products. Click here to begin exploring

Reduce bills with trees

Consider positioning trees as a windbreak. These piñon pines thrive in the rocky clay soil and provide height and structure. Trees planted as windbreaks can reduce home heating bills by 25%.

• MSN Lifestyle: 20 outdoor room design ideas
  
  
  
• Twitter users: Get the latest updates from MSN Real Estate
  
  
  
• Facebook users: Become a fan of MSN Real Estate
  

Find outdoor showers

Train them well

Ten flowering pear trees were coaxed over a metal arch to make this striking garden allée.

• Video: Tips to grow a lush lawn

Design Center Get ideas for your yard with our inspirational outdoor rooms and direct access to real products. Click here to begin exploring

Power pyramids

These Japanese boxwoods are shaped to mirror the roof peak.

• MSN Lifestyle: 20 outdoor room design ideas
  
  
  
• Twitter users: Get the latest updates from MSN Real Estate
  
  
  
• Facebook users: Become a fan of MSN Real Estate
  

Find outdoor showers

Terrace flooring

The owner spread a three-eighths-inch layer of pea gravel on her terrace floor for easy walking.

• Video: Tips to grow a lush lawn

Design Center Get ideas for your yard with our inspirational outdoor rooms and direct access to real products. Click here to begin exploring

Divide and conquer

A long, narrow plot offers a super opportunity to create multiple distinct outdoor rooms in a small space.

• MSN Lifestyle: 20 outdoor room design ideas
  
  
  
• Twitter users: Get the latest updates from MSN Real Estate
  
  
  
• Facebook users: Become a fan of MSN Real Estate
  

Find outdoor showers

Hedge fund

Don't buy into boxwood's bad reputation for high maintenance. This owner trims hers only twice a year, once in the spring and once in the fall.

• Video: Tips to grow a lush lawn

Design Center Get ideas for your yard with our inspirational outdoor rooms and direct access to real products. Click here to begin exploring

Take two

Layering two different blooming vines on one arch extends the wow factor over a longer season.

• MSN Lifestyle: 20 outdoor room design ideas
  
  
  
• Twitter users: Get the latest updates from MSN Real Estate
  
  
  
• Facebook users: Become a fan of MSN Real Estate
  

Find outdoor showers

Lovely walking

A 60-inch arch (measured by width, not height) is gracious and comfortable for two to walk through.

• Facebook users: Become a fan of MSN Real Estate

Salvaged path

Bits of broken concrete salvaged from cracked walkways are set into concrete to resemble a cobblestone path for the cost of just a few bags of concrete mix.

• Video: Tips to grow a lush lawn

Design Center Get ideas for your yard with our inspirational outdoor rooms and direct access to real products. Click here to begin exploring

Water music

Tuck a small water feature into a far corner of the garden where it can be heard before being seen. Seductive yet simple.

•  Click here for more than 50 ideas for outdoor rooms, including decorating tips, from MyHomeIdeas.com.

• MSN Lifestyle: 20 outdoor room design ideas
  
  
  
• Twitter users: Get the latest updates from MSN Real Estate
  
  
  
• Facebook users: Become a fan of MSN Real Estate
  

Find outdoor showers