Decorating for Outdoor Living

Interior Designer, Cindy Rinfret of Greenwich, Connecticut, decided to make her outside live like her inside does, …well for summertime, anyway.  At the end of a hard day or on a lazy Sunday, how wonderful would it be to lounge here, read, have coffee, catch up with your family?

So, if you are planning on doing some work on your gardens this year, now is the time to start planning.  Take a few tips from the pro – no matter how big  or small your space is.

Figure out your requirements.  Do you want to sun bathe, lounge around, entertain formally, informally? Make your list.

Cindy made hers.

- She works hard during the week and she wants a great outdoor place where she can relax with her two teens, friends and  family.

-She loves to have big dinner parties in the summer. Think about how brilliant that is!  You have no limitations on space when you entertain outside so you can invite more people than you would normally; the clean up is much easier and being outside lends to being more creative in your party planning.

Cindy’s solutions:

-She added an open sided room, a mix between a Grotto and a Patio to her Tuscan styled home. She included a few pergolas to accent the exterior architecture and to provide some quasi shaded areas.

Outdoor fireplaces have become popular and they come in all shapes, sizes and degrees of serious.  Cindy chose to do the outdoor living room with a Tuscan stone fireplace for those cozy almost summer or early fall nights when there is just a teensy bite in the air.

The terracotta tile floor, the wood and stucco frame finish off the entire structure. And to make this feel more like a room, she decorated it like a room using substantial rattan furnishings, a wood and iron coffee table and stone planter accents which make this a really easy  living space.

Dining:

Cindy put a long table that can seat 16 under this pergola near the Pizza oven.  The flooring here is gravel, teak chairs that always look good weathered and the pizza oven, fireplace and counter divide this outdoor space into an outdoor room.    The exterior Pizza oven not only gives off great heat and gorgeous ambiance but cooks dinner as well.   To top it all off, Cindy always has a well set table which makes the party more festive and your guests feel special.  The layering of the plates on gold chargers, round wood placements and then a linen tablecloth are complimented with the candles, scattered ivy, lemons and two big yellow linen lined baskets for breads . Note the word layering.  That is what make a full inviting table.

All Photography by Michael Partenio

…………………

………………….

………………..

………………………..

……………

……………..

,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,

Rosemary Potato Pizza

1 lb plain pizza dough
1 potato (russet), peeled and very thinly sliced
2 Tbsp extra virgin olive oil, divided
1/2 tsp salt
1 Tbsp packed fresh rosemary

1) Preheat the oven (preferably with a pizza stone inside) to 525 degrees.   If you don’t have a pizza stone, just use a lightly oiled baking pan.
2) Drizzle the potato slices with salt and 1 Tbsp olive oil.  Let it sit while you roll out the dough.
3) Roll out the dough thinly on a floured surface (such as a cutting board that you can then use to slide the pizza onto the pizza stone).
4) Cover the surface of the pizza with a single layer of potatoes.  Sprinkle on the rosemary and drizzle with remaining olive oil.
5) Carefully slide the pizza onto the pizza stone in the oven.  Cook for about 12 minutes or until crust is golden.

You can serve this pizza as a main course with a great fresh salad or make the pizza rounds small, slice thin and serve as orderves .

Rinfret, Ltd.

Visit us Online:

http://rinfretltd.com
http://rinfretltd.blogspot.com/

Become a fan on Facebook

Follow us on Twitter