Thinking Outside the House

Outdoor entertaining isn't just summer barbecues and kids' backyard birthday parties anymore. Getting together with friends and family to enjoy the great outdoors is one of the latest and greatest entertainment trends, and there's no reason you can't get in on the fun.

NO MORE "ROUGHING IT"
"When you walk out of our clients' houses from the inside to the outside, you really walk into another room," says Tim Robinette, who co-manages the Summer Classics Store in Raleigh, along with Jennifer Holcomb.

Summer Classics furniture includes Four Season Wicker, a resin wicker that holds up to the elements year-round; a Resort collection, geared toward resorts but also popular among individual customers; an Ocean collection, perfect for beach homes; cast aluminum, wrought aluminum and wrought-iron furniture; tables in a variety of sizes; and umbrellas.

The huge choice allows a homeowner to craft the ideal outdoor setting. With a choice of more than 100 fabrics for the cushions, you "could make it look a lot more contemporary or fun, or you could go the sophisticated route," said Robinette. To help you decide which way to go, Summer Classics offers an in-house design service, or you can bring in your own designer to assist you in creating just the right look.

Of course, every room needs the right lighting - plus heat if it's cold out! PSNC Energy can transform your outdoor room into a cozy haven with fire pits, fireplaces, patio heaters and grills, all of which can be purchased from the company and fueled by a natural gas line.

When it comes to relaxation and entertainment, "the biggest thing that natural gas can do is provide you with convenience and reliability," says Dean Starling, Jr., manager of Residential and Commercial Sales at PSNC. "If you're entertaining and you've got the grill going, you're right in the middle of cooking steaks or tuna filets, you've got ten or twelve people around, and your propane bottle runs empty, you've got a dilemma." The natural gas line takes the hassle out of entertaining—there's no need to gather wood and build a fire, or stock up on charcoal, or fill a propane tank.

WHAT'S COOKING?

Another excellent grill to hook up to your natural gas line is a Viking. "The great thing about Viking," said Suzanne Kearse, advertising and promotions manager with regional Viking distributor HADCO, "is that you can actually create a whole kitchen outside." Well-known for its indoor ranges, Viking also offers a complete line of outdoor products, including professional-grade grills, ranges, ovens, warming drawers, ventilation hoods, ice machines, refrigeration, beverage centers, cabinets and accessories.

The beauty of a whole outdoor kitchen is that if you're entertaining, "you don't

have to go in the house for anything. Everything you need is out there," said Kearse. Somebody wants their drink refreshed? No need to leave the party. Just fill the portable beverage dispenser ahead of time, with anything from beer to grape soda. "You can stay and entertain everyone while you're out there, and you can enjoy it without having to run back and forth."

It's a common phenomenon in entertaining that people always gather in the kitchen. "When it's nice outdoors and you've spent time landscaping and creating a wonderful environment outside, you can actually just bring that whole experience outdoors."

MAKING A SPLASH

While you're cooking up a delicious dinner, the kids can enjoy their ultimate outdoor dream: a pool. Although some features of above-ground pools have remained true—namely, affordability and portability—the pools have come a long way in recent years. "They're a whole lot more attractive than they used to be," said Chris Piercy, national director of merchandise for Rec Warehouse. New liner designs mimic the look of an in-ground pool. Better filtration systems, nicer entrances, new lighting options and other features mean the pools have improved in substance as well as style.

 
Solar blankets can raise the pool's water temperature by 10 to 12 degrees, and solar heating panels by 15 to 18 degrees. Electric or gas-powered heat pumps can bring it up to 104 degrees. But to really warm things up, there's nothing like a hot tub. Bells and whistles on today's spas include stereos, waterfalls, headrests, interchangeable therapy jets, heated towel racks, and more. Setting up is easy with automatic covers: "You hit a button, and it'll lift the cover, flip it into itself and take it off the spa for you," said Piercy. Rec Warehouse specializes in spas made by its parent company, Leisure Bay.

Choice Pool & Spa in Raleigh specializes in Jacuzzi and Master Spa tubs. "Jacuzzi was the first manufacturer to put stereo systems into their hot tubs," said Rod Adams, sales manager, while "Master Spas was the original company that founded the STS, which is the spa theater system. You can get 17-inch flat-screen DVD players, compact disc players, subwoofers and surround-sound home theater entertainment—all in a hot tub." Colorful LED water lighting adds even more pizzazz.
"In the last few years, we've seen more of a trend toward the home-improvement and home-entertainment aspects of spas," said Adams. "I think the television systems and the LED water lighting and stereo systems have kind of driven that."

GLASS HOUSES
There's another way to stay warm through the winter, yet still enjoy the outdoors: a sunroom or conservatory. "It's like bringing the outdoors in," said Gypsy Finley, operations manager for Amazing Spaces in Raleigh. Entertaining in a sunroom, you're surrounded by nature but separated from some of the less-desirable elements like bugs and excessive heat.

Conservaglass™, the glass used in the Four Seasons Sunrooms that Amazing Spaces sells and builds, blocks 85 percent of the sun's heat and UV rays. "It lets in the natural light, but it block's the sun's oppressive solar energy," said Finley. Not only do you and your guests stay comfortable, but with this Energy Star product, your energy bills stay low.

The sunrooms are available in four different styles—straight, curved, cathedral and conservatory — all with varying options for wall, roof and door configurations. Because these are custom spaces and not kits, homeowners can configure the rooms however they like, with knee walls, glass transoms over the doors, glass ceilings, shingle roofs, or shingle roofs with skylights.

"It really all just depends on what they're planning on using the room for," said Finley. "Our customers use them as home offices, as workout rooms—we've even had someone use it as a bedroom. They wanted to sleep under the stars." Finley added that many homeowners use the sunrooms for extra space when hosting overnight guests. "When they have family in for the holidays, that's where everybody congregates," she said. "It's a beautiful place to sit when it's snowing, because you're just surrounded by it."

YEAR-ROUND BLISS

Whether it's January or July, there's a way to entertain outdoors. You could be serving hot cocoa by the patio fireplace or dispensing poolside refreshments from your portable beverage dispenser. Either way, the great outdoors is anything but off-limits. So get out there and enjoy it!

Karen Rhodes is a Freelance Writer