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Architect Jennifer Gosnell says not one, but multiple outdoor living spaces are currently trending for home design.

Well-designed exterior spaces are ideal places to lounge, and experts say homeowners are using porches more like interior rooms.

Architect Jennifer Gosnell says not one, but multiple outdoor living spaces are currently trending for home design.

"We want to be outside, but with all the comfort of our interiors," Gosnell says. "Homeowners want outdoor living rooms as well as decks for grilling and extra spaces for gathering, like fireplaces or firepits."

She is fond of a porch built directly off a living space and says that creating flow from a room to a porch is important.

"The best architecture brings the outdoors in, and when people downsize heated square footage, these structures can extend living spaces," Gosnell says. "To me, it's just good design."

North Main is one of several downtown neighborhoods experiencing a boom in construction. Thoughtful additions and a plethora of covered porches are cropping up, augmenting a community of bungalows and brick federals.

"Southerners are enamored with porches," Gosnell says. "We have a cultural connection to them."

Multi-space makeover

The back of Laura and Jeff Young's pre-war home reflected decades of shoddy additions, including narrow decking, metal staircases and unusable patio space.

The reconfigured back today echoes not only the original architecture of the North Main home, but also the materials of the curbside facade. With the help of a contractor, they added a large covered porch off the family's great room with sets of doors that conjoin the spaces when open.

The gabled roof continues the line of the interior ceiling with a twist: a clear-coated bead board ceiling. Laura picked visibly knotty wood to add warmth. She purposely did not install a hanging light fixture, nor has she added a single lamp. "I wanted it to be a totally candlelit room at night," she says, "and really feel like you're in this private outdoor space."

Jeff says his goal was comfort. "We gained a whole other room with the porch and use it all four seasons, especially in the mornings."

An open deck for grilling adjoins the porch and the iron railing was an intentional nod to wrought iron details on the front of the house. Wide stairs lead down to a circular drive that connects to a nearly egg-shaped stone patio with a fireplace and columned pergola. This ellipsoid-shaped terrace is a design element that separates the outdoor living space from the back yard.

Laura has an instinctive eye for design and says when they bought the house their objective was to create vacation-like spaces.

"My favorite time is the fall. We'll have a fire going and make chili, open the doors, watch football and enjoy the ability to bring it all in."

Screened porch

Sidney and Paul Brunson knew when they designed their North Main home (completed just a year ago) that a deep screened porch would be paramount to the project. "I grew up in a house with a giant screened porch and it was the place to be," says Sidney.

They designed the porch with a raised ceiling to create a feeling of openness and included an attached deck for grilling and dining. The star of the space is a hanging daybed that Paul built and Sidney painted gray to match their interior palette. She says it's the first seat taken no matter the guest. "It immediately created the coziness I wanted for the porch," she says.

Sidney likes to take coffee out to the screened porch first thing Saturday morning and the family will follow to read the paper, play on the iPad and fold paper airplanes. As the day progresses, it turns into a perfect spot for a drink. "When I have girls night, I basically say, 'Who wants to drink some wine on my porch?'"

And though the couple's two children love the porch swing, another family member favors the view. "Our dog, Stretch, likes the porch because he's getting old and it makes him feel like he's still outside."

ADDING EXTERIOR SPACES

Architect Jennifer Gosnell shares design notes on how to augment your home with flawless exterior spaces:

• Reflect the scale of the house. Mimic the dimensions of the adjacent room to make a porch or deck feel like part of the original design.

• Add a couple of different outdoor spaces rather than a single large expanse that can dwarf a home's architecture.

• The size and shape of exterior details, such as rails, posts and finishes, need to feel substantial but stylistically appropriate.