Indoor or Outdoor Dining? With These Hybrid Spaces, You Don’t Have to Choose
Homeowners are ditching elaborate dining rooms and separate outside setups for a more blended eating environment
Homeowners are ditching elaborate dining rooms and separate outside setups for a more blended eating environment
When building his Sonoma, Calif., home, Mukesh Patel had a request: He wanted a simple way to enjoy farm-to-table meals. He meant it literally.
Mr. Patel had purchased a 100-acre lot with his wife, Harsha Patel, 59, for $5.7 million in 2016 that included a small fruit and vegetable farm. He then worked with architect Christie Tyreus to construct a 2,100-square-foot, two-bedroom home for $3 million.
The home features a glass-enclosed kitchen-dining room with exterior pocket doors that open up on two sides to make it easy to walk from the terrace to pick fresh food: tomatoes, avocados, lettuce. The other side of the dining area leads to the living room. “You pick, you cook, then you eat—it’s a smooth transition,” says Mr. Patel, 64, a technology executive. The two moved into the new house from Pleasanton in 2020 but kept their Pleasanton house as a secondary home.
Homeowners are rethinking their indoor dining setups, replacing formal, enclosed rooms with elaborate spaces that give the feel of dining al fresco, with the option to be protected from the elements.
The interior designs also offer greater access to the kitchen, by direct proximity or by combining the cooking and dining areas in an open plan. At the same time, architects are being asked to make the most of killer views, installing automated glass doors and screens to create a seamless transition with the exterior.
“This is as close to dining outside you can get without being outside,” says Paul Masi, principal of Bates Masi + Architects, an East Hampton, N.Y., architecture firm.
Recently, a dining area Mr. Masi designed included two dining-room tables next to each other, with one indoors and the other outdoors. When the homeowners entertain in good weather, they can open the pocket doors to double the room space. Insect screens make it comfortable to eat even at dusk. Wide-plank Ipe wood floors outside mimic the wood floors indoors, and an oak wood ceiling stretches between the indoor and outdoor spaces to create a uniform look.
Another project includes a dining area that opens directly to the outside via two sides of glass doors, with pocket doors separating the space from the kitchen.
“There is nothing abrupt that changes from the interior to the exterior,” says Mr. Masi. Creating these hybrid dining spaces means there are fewer requests for separate outdoor kitchen and eating areas, especially in colder climates, he adds.
After purchasing a Manhattan Beach, Calif., home for $8.5 million in 2019, Michael Mothner, 41, wanted a dining room the family was “actually going to use.”
During a 2½-year renovation, Mr. Mothner created a formal dining space that borders an upstairs living room and kitchen, and opens up to a private terrace with a view over the family pool and the ocean. The indoor-outdoor setup makes it easier to host family dinners that are casual but not like a picnic. “We wanted something that doesn’t feel super formal and is going to be functional,” says the digital-marketing agency founder.
Wendy Word, an interior designer who worked with Mr. Mothner and his wife, Savanna Mothner, says she was able to extend meals from the dining room to the outside by making the table and the rug easy to position partially outdoors. Another dining table is outside on a covered terrace. “They want to be able to gather spontaneously and be able to use the outdoor footprint,” Ms. Word says.
With open floor plans, setting off the dining room while making it conveniently close to the kitchen is a challenge, says Ms. Tyreus, who worked with Mr. Patel.
Instead of creating a separate space, Ms. Tyreus added three kitchen islands. The island bordering the dining area has a decorative sintered stone facade, making the dining space more like a sleek bar area. Kitchen islands farther away include hidden refrigerator drawers and underneath storage. “When in the dining room, [the counter] looks like this beautiful stone block,” she says.
Los Angeles real-estate agent Rayni Williams says luxury homeowners pay a premium for dining rooms that blend into separate spaces. She sees dining areas that are separated by a wall of art, or another dividing element, from the main living area, providing easy access to the exterior and to the kitchen.
The idea is to create an eating area that gives priority to exterior views. “They know that’s the real money shot—that’s the way to maximise the dollar,” she adds.
Ms. Williams and her husband, Branden, are representing off market a $48 million home in Los Angeles that has nearly 7,000-square feet of outdoor space and a dining area with a large glass wall that can retract vertically to open to the exterior. The dining table inside the home is on wheels to make it easy to relocate throughout the area, including to a spot near an outdoor fireplace, she says.
Even in colder climates, homeowners are finding creative ways to craft scenic indoor-outdoor dining spots. After buying a vacation home for $765,000 in Hyde Park, N.Y., in 2021, Thorsten Hayer, 42, was thrilled to use what he calls a fancy garage as a dining area that opens to the exterior through two sets of barn doors. With a dining table and bar, the exterior room allows him to entertain while enjoying the outdoors.
The main home, built in 1876, has a formal dining area, but the family eats dinners mainly in the outside space. When the doors are open, it feels like they are dining in the garden. “It’s a nice progression from grilling a hot dog on the fire pit and going into a garage space,” he adds.
Whether it’s a soft butter or a rich shade of mustard, the sunny shade is showing its versatility in interior design.
The cult Australian accessories label has added a playful new collectible to its SABRÉMOJI range, a miniature padlock charm crafted with purpose, personality, and polish.
Whether it’s a soft butter or a rich shade of mustard, the sunny shade is showing its versatility in interior design.
Art enthusiasts may wax poetic about yellow, one of the oldest hues in the history of art. The colour can be seen in some of the world’s most ancient works from Egypt and Rome, and pieces by Gauguin and Van Gogh reveal that these iconic painters were wild about yellow.
Although it may be the lightest hue on the basic colour wheel, yellow’s not the most timid. Sure, yellow can be soft and sweet, but it can also pack a punch. Designer Matthew Boland of MMB Design in Scottsdale, Arizona, praises the hue’s power in interiors.
“Yellow can be soothing or electric; it is a very versatile colour,” Boland said. “The warmth of yellow and the flexibility of yellow make it extremely appealing to all.”
Mansion Global asked Boland and three other interior designers to share suggestions on decorating with the myriad moods of yellow, one of home décor’s hottest colours in 2025.
“Butter yellow is a beautiful soft colour that doesn’t read feminine, which is why you are seeing it pop up on the men’s and women’s runways. It is a colour that is beautiful with all skin tones and reads neutral when paired with other colours. It is warm and inviting while being whisper quiet. undefined undefined “I love red and butter yellow, they are both warm tones and they pair well together. I also like cobalt blue and a great bright green. Turquoise is also extremely complimentary.
“I love yellow drapery, it catches and reflects light beautifully. I love it for outdoor upholstery as it looks amazing with green plants and grass, and I love it in lacquered furnishings because it changes with the light during the day.”
—Matthew Boland, MMB Studio in Scottsdale, Arizona
“From butter yellow to citron and canary to goldenrod, this optimistic and cheerful hue lends itself well to interiors and fashion as it ignites a smile and happy mood. The bright yellow in this classic check pattern [pictured] with a white background adds charm to the room.
“Consider adding a pair of yellow velvet pillows to your sofa; a bright yellow throw over your favourite chair, or maybe even just a large bouquet of yellow flowers for your coffee table. (Or try) painting a bathroom cabinet and trim for a fun refresh.”
—Designer Maggie Griffin in Gainesville, Georgia
Yellow can be used as an accent colour in just about any single piece of furniture or accessory, or as the focal shade in a space.
“If you use yellow throughout a space or on large surfaces, keep the other colours in the room on the neutral side. It can be difficult to add other shades of yellow or introduce another colour into the space, so keep other furnishings and accessories neutral, allowing the yellow to be the focal point.
“In this room, yellow is the primary colour of the wallpaper, evoking warmth and calm. This yellow wallpaper also reflects natural light, making the room brighter. [Yellow] enhances vintage spaces, such as this older, historic residence, but can also be used in more contemporary designs.
“Grey and white are the primary accent colours because they are subtle, allowing the yellow to shine. But other neutrals, such as black or navy, look beautiful with yellow as well and act as a secondary colour that enhances the yellow tones without taking away from it.”
—Designer Kelley Proxmire in Bethesda, Maryland
“I love using yellow in rooms that need to echo positive energy–– everything from kitchens, laundry and mudrooms, to kid bedrooms and playrooms. Yellow belongs everywhere.
“Pairing yellow with too many bright colours versus balancing it out can make it too loud or overbearing. Use colour theory to ensure balance and harmony with your selections in a space. Examples of this include pairing yellow with its complementary colour, blue (complementary colours are any two colours that are directly opposite each other on the colour wheel) or its analogous colour, orange or green (analogous colours are located next to each other on the colour wheel). Pairing yellow with a colour like red would be more harsh and not as compatible.
“I used this colour, Sherwin-Williams Tassel, in this guest bedroom [pictured] to create a colour-drenched, beautiful oasis that feels like a boutique hotel. We balanced out the bright colours with neutral furnishings and bedding, and bolder colours on the upholstered bed, rug and artwork.”
—Amber Guyton, Blessed Little Bungalow in Atlanta
Whether it’s a soft butter or a rich shade of mustard, the sunny shade is showing its versatility in interior design.
This luxury Sanctuary Cove estate offers prime fairway frontage beside Australia’s only Arnold Palmer-designed golf course.