Tropical Back Yard Party Paradise

Tim and Cindy Giles have recently moved into a new home. They love to entertain, and their first priority in the new home is to create an extensive outdoor living area that will facilitate the couple's love of having friends and neighbors over for parties by the pool. Their existing outdoor area consists simply of a covered porch, a small patio, and a pool with hot tub, and it just isn't adequate for their needs. The challenge for Donna is to create a design that greatly expands the outdoor kitchen and living area while blending in with the existing layout. Working with her contractor, Donna more than doubles the footprint of the area by having new concrete poured to reclaim a large section of the back yard. She is careful to match the texture of the new surface with the existing pool decking to create a seamless effect. Donna and Tiffany visit a stone dealer to shop for stones that match the color and texture of the existing stonework and, using these new stones, they install an enormous outdoor fireplace.Donna has a large pergola built to shade the new area and Donna, Tiffany and Ashley entwine the pergola's woodwork with decorative grapevine. On one end of the new space, Donna installs a magnificent outdoor kitchen complete with a stainless steel grill, a sink and a small refrigerator. A small bar is connected to the kitchen to enable Tim to socialize with his guests while cooking. The main seating area of the new space features an ensemble of metal outdoor furniture with cushions and pillows made of durable fabric designed for outdoor use. The colors in the fabric are rusty hues of orange, chosen to match the stone in the fireplace and the flagstone by the pool. To anchor the space, Donna has chosen a light green outdoor rug with sparkly orange accent lines, also chosen to coordinate with the colors in the stone. Throughout the space, Donna has refurbished and re-purposed the Giles' existing furniture, to help keep down the cost of the project. Another client is planning on putting their house on the market, and they ask Donna to give their kitchen a light makeover in order to make the house more marketable. To give the kitchen a custom look, Donna and Tiffany upgrade the hardware on the cabinets and paint an ornate stencil pattern on the two cabinet doors that bookend the stove, which is recessed into a brick alcove. Because there is a laundry room on the other side of the wall behind the stove, Donna is able to tap into the plumbing there to install a stylish and functional pot filler. To finish out the space, Donna replaces the two existing bar stools, which are chunky and too large for the space, with four sleeker and more stylish bar stools, which help give the kitchen a much cleaner, more inviting look and feel.