Indoor-Outdoor Living: Designing Spaces That Extend Beyond the Walls

Shaping the Exterior Experience

The Orono Remodel illustrates how a home’s exterior can shape the experience of arrival into the and connection to its surroundings. The original exterior felt imbalanced and flat, with horizontal lines and rigid geometric design creating a home that appears one-dimensional and disconnected from its lakefront setting.

Through a thoughtful design-build process, including an addition and full exterior remodel, this Orono home is now more inviting and in harmony with its natural surroundings. Sophisticated without losing its cottage-style charm, the remodel introduces softer shapes and elements of whimsy—such as an eyebrow roof and arched front entryway—to better connect with the surrounding landscape. The gentle movement in the roofline echoes the lake’s mellow lapping and the organic arches of nearby trees. An understated, contrasting color palette allows the foliage to naturally brighten and define the home.

The experience of arrival sets the tone, but the connection to the landscape continues beyond the front door.

A Porch That Extends the Home

Moving to the backyard, this award-winning Edina Porch Remodel features retractable screens and panoramic views of the forest’s lush greenery. This porch addition grew from years of frustration; while the homeowners valued their outdoor space, the existing porch offered little protection from the elements, especially mosquitoes, which kept them inside during summer evenings. The surrounding trees and rolling land remained a disconnected backdrop through interior windows.

This new, spacious outdoor area seamlessly connects to the house and the surrounding landscaping with stunning cedar wood and simple, clean lines. Retractable screens extend this space’s usability throughout the seasons and create a smooth transition from inside to outside. This stately, well-integrated structure nestles into the surrounding woods while opening to an expansive living space with vaulted ceilings.  Here, the landscape is no longer a backdrop. It becomes part of daily life. 

Building Connection from the Beginning

When designing and constructing a new build, establishing character is front of mind, both inside and outside the home. With no existing history or footprint, creating a relationship between home and landscape design is critical to building a home that has a strong connection to its surroundings from the start and ages gracefully over the years.

In the Isles Custom Home, the Tudor-style design and earthy tones create the perfect foundation for a young garden, with soft maroon accents drawing closer to the front entryway. Behind the home, on the walls of a detached garage, is subtle netting for ivy or grape leaves to climb, further integrating natural elements into this new home’s design.

For homeowners with a passion for gardening, blending home design and landscaping comes naturally. This conservatory brings the outdoors in, creating a space to enjoy fresh air and greenery year-round. Just as striking on the exterior, the conservatory blends seamlessly into the surrounding landscaping, creating a cohesive look with enduring character for years to come. 

Whether through a softened approach to arrival, a porch that supports daily living, or spaces that invite the landscape inward, these moments shape how a home is experienced over time. When architecture and landscape are considered together, a home feels not only complete, but connected—rooted in its place and responsive to the life within it.