Relax in an inspired outdoor room

Some of the best country decorating happens, as we all know, when you bring the outdoors in. So maybe it should follow, then, that the opposite is also true, and that taking the inside out can create spaces that are equally as interesting.

Of course, it's easy when your house looks out on green fields in the south of France. This lovely covered terrace situated on Canadian Rita Theil's pre-1729 farmhouse property near Toulouse, for example, is a relaxing piece of paradise. "When we bought the property almost nine years ago, there were a bunch of old out-buildings in various stages of disrepair," comments Rita. "But we've refurbished in a way that's true to the character and history of the place." That meant using reclaimed wood for the terrace's roof to match the 300-year-old stone surround, as well as creating an outdoor kitchen built from the ancient bread oven unearthed on the spot.

The space exudes an age-old sense of familiar rural comfort, in part because Rita's furniture choices are just as at home indoors as they are out. No spindly iron chairs or plasticky umbrella tables here. Instead, sophisticated teak chairs and coffee table lend a homeyness that's accentuated by the wood roof over the space and the sisal rug underneath.

"My inspiration was a vision of long, lazy lunches overlooking the ancient plum and olive trees," states Rita. Accordingly, she has created a true 'room,' with weathered neutral tones punctuated by splashes of a saturated turquoise that balances the visual weight of the furniture and the surrounding stone wall. The intense aqua of soft furnishings also plays well against the natural hues of the flowers that abound in the region, along with the vivid tones of the surrounding evergreens. "The fields often appear so bluey-green that they're almost turquoise. I wanted to reflect that here," Rita adds.

She's certainly succeeded. What could have turned out as a generic backyard plot is now a personal space that speaks to relaxation and reflection—a true room for living life to its fullest. Whatever the location—outside or in, old barn foundation, add-on sunroom or garden shed—a peaceful retreat like this, with its harmony of nature and nurture, does its duty to restore one's equilibrium. "It's really the best of all worlds," says Rita.