Inviting the outdoors in

The past couple of evenings, the temperature has been just cool enough that we have closed the double glass doors that open from our kitchen onto the lower deck, and we have sat down to dinner at the table inside instead of out. Even the bank of windows in the dining area were closed against the chill. As much as I love our house in winter, with a cheerful fire every night, I hate to say goodbye to outdoor living when Autumn forces us inside.

Almost without exception, everyone who visits us in the warmer months remarks on the airy, spacious feeling of our small house which is due, in large part (unless it's actively raining or too humid) to those double glass doors being open first thing in the morning until well past nightfall, when I start worrying about confused bats swooping through.

Our totally conventional, boring double doors (small photo, with butterfly chairs) are a poor substitute for what I REALLY want someday. . . Here are some pix that inspire me to keep dreaming. – GF

p.s.: I am totally frustrated not being able to control photo/text placement in posts like this – Blogger has really got to get with it! Sorry for the lousy layout.







1. moomoo Architects
2. Crosson Clarke Carnachan Architects
3. Guilherme Machado Vaz Arquitecto
4. Our back deck – good enough for now
5. Arthur Casas
6. Barton Myers Associates (photo Ciro Coelho)
7. Barton Myers Associates (photo Richard Powers)