If you ask any architect or interior designer what makes Australian homes so special almost all of them will instantly share how much our homes, both apartments and houses, emphasise indoor/outdoor living.
Creating a seamless connection between the indoor and the outdoors is a quintessentially Australian design principal. With our wonderful and temperate climate, there’s nothing Aussies love more than entertaining — especially in our own backyards in our outdoor kitchens.
The key idea behind a fluid indoor/outdoor space is to ensure that there’s easy passage between the two zones. Installing glass sliding doors is a simple way to instantly enhance the connection between the zones as they’re easy to move, allow for clean sightlines between the areas with the added bonus of introducing more natural light into the interior of your home.
To inspire you to create the ultimate entertaining zone, here are 21 of our favourite indoor/outdoor ideas.
In what may be the ultimate outdoor set up, this space within a 1930s Scandi-style family home includes an in-built fireplace, outdoor bar, integrated BBQ and, just out of the covered zone, sunken seating complete with a pizza oven.
A seamless indoor/outdoor blend is achieved here by extending elements from space to space; the brick flooring and concrete built-in bench seat create continuation and flow, while plenty of glass and louvered windows let light into this WWII double height Queenslander.
In this Queensland workers cottage, the main living space leads out through large bi-fold doors into this alfresco zone, which in turn looks out onto the natural-look pool. “I love that we can completely open the house to the pool and palm trees. We sit on the living-room couch and feel like we’re sitting outside — it’s heaven,” says the owner.
The dark-clad, ultra contemporary exterior of this Edwardian-style Geelong home stands in contrast to the lush, green lawn that follows it. The owners have made the most of this home’s scape, installing a pergola with climbing vines, an outdoor dining zone, built-in seating and fire pit.
A breakfast bar and double-glazed windows frame this mid-century cottage’s bushy outlook, inviting light, views and – of course – Australia’s natural colour palette into the home’s kitchen and living space.
The alfresco zone of Byron Bay’s Barefoot Villa has been designed to complement its surrounds; a Robert Plumb timber dining setting along with four Sage Green by Philippe Starck chairs take centre stage. Just beyond the dining space, an outdoor shower by Mon Palmer sits, which gets plenty of use as guests retire from days at the beach.
The pool area sits literally a skip, hop and a jump away from the dining room and main living area in this chic Mooloolaba beach house. You can just imagine the beautiful movement those flowy, floor-length curtains would get with a breeze.
Generous, sliding windows make the most of this dining room’s beautiful outlook in this Byron Bay Californian-style mid-century home.
This reimagined fibro-cottage in Avalon, on Sydney’s Northern Beaches, is all about that indoor/outdoor connection. In this gorgeous outdoor dining zone, stacking doors slide away to connect the house, while the same treatment has been adopted in the bedroom, which sits just around the corner.
In this renovated Bondi duplex the open-plan kitchen and dining zone features white-framed doors that open directly onto a generous white mahogany deck that’s perfect for entertaining.
Generous glass sliding doors take up the width of the ground floor in this contemporary Geelong home allowing the backyard to become a natural extension of the open-plan living and dining area.
This idyllic kitchen seamlessly connects the indoors with the tropical backyard garden. The Carrara marble bench top and custom-made cabinetry by Martyn Everitt of Make Bespoke Furniture add subtle sophistication to this casual space.
Glass sliding doors connect the dining area to the outdoor entertaining zone in this colourful and practical family home. The concrete flooring complements the grey painted exterior of the home.
Glass and aluminium bifold doors with a white frame connect this chic small pool house home to a generous backyard and outdoor entertaining zone that is complete with a fire pit for winter gatherings.
This Mediterranean-inspired all-white holiday home features an incredible outdoor living area complete with a swing for the children to play on. The outdoor zone is connected to the indoor kitchen space with black timber-framed glass doors.
Pebbles and pot plants are great easy-to-maintain options for the courtyard of this newly built home in Balmain. Sliding doors connect the indoor and outdoor areas making it feel like one big space.
This relaxed Paddington terrace features white aluminium-framed bifold doors that link the kitchen and dining zone to the outdoor courtyard space. The dining table is joined to the kitchen island, making the most of the home’s compact space and maximising the impact of the backyard.
This industrial warehouse-inspired home in Fremantle boasts a generous backyard and garden, as well as a striking red-brick paved outdoor entertaining area. Black aluminium-framed sliding doors seamlessly connect the outdoors to the indoor kitchen, dining and living area.
This timber-clad sustainable home in Melbourne features a covered terrace outdoor seating area that’s perfect for family gatherings.
Timber-framed sliding glass doors connect the compact kitchen space in this small eco-friendly home to the outdoor deck and backyard.
The open-plan kitchen and dining area of this Palm Springs-style home in Coorparoo opens directly onto a terrace that’s perfect for outdoor entertaining and makes the most of sublime views.
WriterChristina Rae
WriterLucy Francis
Lucy Francis has a long-standing love affair with homes that began with a childhood spent picking out the nicest house on each street from the back of her parents' 2000s Subaru. Now, when not writing, she does an adult version - perusing real estate websites - and spends far too long browsing Facebook marketplace for 70s-style furniture.
