The patio life

Here's the buzz in the backyard: outdoor rooms. Rather than the yard being all about the lawn and the shrubs, it's now about comfortable, cozy areas designed to entertain or relax. Here are some of the outdoor choices that are creating buzz.

Elemental elements

Water features have been popular for years now, but the latest ones tend to be less like ponds and more like waterfalls over stone - partly because lot sizes are generally smaller and a vertical feature takes up less space than a horizontal one. But it's also because the sound of softly flowing water gives an intimate sense closer to a room than to an expanse of wilderness.

Stone is also a fantastic natural element that's hot in outdoor design. Instead of the old cement patio stones, natural -- or natural look -- stone is the "flooring" of choice for patio space. A new option, highlighted outside of the model home at the National Home Show in Toronto this April, is cement imprinting. In this process, wet cement is infused with solid or patterned colors in the mix. As it sets, rubber matting with a patterned design is set on top of it. The cement hardens to a textured surface that looks like real stone.

Fire has really taken off lately, as outdoor kitchens come into vogue. As entertaining moves outdoors, the concept of the bonfire or hearth as the gathering place has come back into play. Barbeques have never gone out of style, but the trend now is towards more elaborate fire elements. Outdoor fireplaces range from the portable to the impressively built. Fire pits - the jazzed-up campfire, contained within copper or cast iron -- are also available. Chimineas, or Mexican-style outdoor fireplaces, feature a chubby base where the fire burns, and a tall narrow chimney to vent the smoke. And patio heaters prolong the season by providing warmth at night early in spring and into the fall.

Overhead, wooden structures such as porticos, shaded areas like gazebos, or screened-in porches admit light and air while defining space - and in some cases, keeping out mosquitoes or filtering the sun's rays.

Furnish the space

A couple of Muskoka chairs won't do it anymore. The new outdoor space contains elegant dining suites, bar-height tables and stools, and sofas to lounge about in. New synthetic materials marry traditional looks with easy-care furnishings -- such as synthetic fibers over an aluminum frame that looks like rattan. The fibers are heat and cold resistant, UV resistant and colourfast (so they won't fade), and wash easily. For a look at a great Canadian manufacturer of outdoor furniture, check out the D.O.T. Canada website at: www.dot-canada.com/.

Accessories and lighting are just as important outdoors as indoors. A variety of lighting options offers the possibility of entertaining at night - and many lanterns and garden lights now operate on solar power, making them an environmentally friendlier choice. Waterproof art and outdoor sculpture - decidedly not of the garden-gnome variety - are hot choices in furnishing stores from coast to coast. The trend is towards a focal piece - larger than life, and statement- producing - rather than small, kitschy pieces in the flower bed.