Necessories Kits for Outdoor Living give you everything to build your own seating and kitchen walls. (Provided by Necessories)

Blurring the line between outdoors and indoors — in new ways and for more seasons — is a major theme this year in the world of outdoor decor. And even when a major snow dump threatens, Coloradans know their decks, patios and porches won't be drift-locked forever.

They know that shade structures for summer heat and sun can become winter retreats with the addition of heaters and fireplaces. Outdoor kitchens as well-equipped as their indoor counterparts connect to open-air living spaces furnished with weatherproof sofas and recliners. The stone fireplaces that warm outdoor rooms now sport built-in media centers with flat-panel TVs and hidden speakers.

Outdoor Lighting Perspectives' recessed lights can bring out the drama of spectacular water features or stonescapes. (Provided by Outdoor Lighting Perspectives)

Or homeowners can add a greenhouse, batting cage, play structure with solar lights and wireless intercom, roaring water features or kinetic sculpture.

Blame a booming economy and time-pressed folks who want their homes to resemble a mountain resort.

"It's just nice to have some luxuries around you," said interior designer Colleen Heldt of CC Designs in Littleton at the recent Colorado Garden & Home Show in Denver.

A client's home in the Columbine Country Club neighborhood will include several outdoor living areas: a patio adjacent to the family room features a flat-screen TV above the fireplace, while a hot tub takes center stage on a smaller deck off the master bedroom.

While your house might not be as extensively decked out, here are five products that'll help you enliven your outdoor spaces this year.

Adjustable shade Colorado's weather extremes make choosing a shade structure tough. On cool autumn afternoons, we want the sun's warmth; in July, we can't get away from it fast enough. We love the morning light but hate the heat gain. We need to escape the summer rain (and hail), but worry about the impact of winter snow and wind.

The Solara adjustable patio cover looks like a pergola when it's open, but the sturdy aluminum louvers can be tilted or closed completely to keep out sun, rain or snow. Open, "it allows the light in, and you can still see out," said Tom Thompson, president of Colorado Sunroom and Window Distributors. Closed, it creates a cozy and virtually waterproof space that can also cut summer cooling bills by reducing solar gain.

Crank it open by hand or add a motor and remote. The shade can also include a wind and rain sensor that adjusts the patio cover if a cloudburst is looming.

Solara's sunshade roofs are made of aluminum louvers that close to keep out rain or snow, then open to let light into home windows.(Provided by Solara)

The shade even has an origin that's a bit spiritual: It began its life 20 years ago as a high-tech version of a traditional religious structure, Thompson said. Jews commemorate 40 years in the wilderness during the Sukkot holiday by building outdoor rooms for meals and sleeping. The Solara shade "was developed in Israel as a Sukkot booth and became a patio cover," Thompson said.coloradoclassicsunrooms.com

Stone and mortar

Hankering for a Tuscan-style outdoor fireplace, kitchen, waterfall or seat wall? Necessories Outdoor Living Kits turn a major outdoor feature from something that has to be lifted into your back yard with a crane into something you can carry through your house one piece at a time.

"It's a kit that comes with everything from gloves to adhesive," said Paul Gaul of Basalite Concrete Products. Pictorial instructions show users how to assemble the pre-cut concrete blocks and steel reinforcements.

The kits feature modular designs that can be combined into features from a simple bar counter to an elaborate outdoor room with kitchen appliances, a gas fireplace insert or a Vermont Castings grill. You can spend $1,500 or $10,000.

Farm Tub, located in Boulder, wraps stock tanks in new or up-cycled wood and puts self-watering systems in them.(Provided by Farm Tub)

"Two guys built that table in 45 minutes," including the faux-limestone slab top, Gaul said, pointing to his fixtures at the recent Colorado Garden & Home Show. "It's like a big Lego kit."outdoorlivingkits.com

A hot fire feature

If you're just not the DIY type, Oriflamme fire pits combine an occasional table with a propane-fueled fire feature. An optional kit converts the fuel source to natural gas. allbackyardfun.com or designingfire.com

Smart, fruitful garden containers

For watering efficiency, soil-quality control and a longer, more fruitful growing season, container gardening is hard to beat.

Boulder-based Farm Tub custom-builds decorative planters from galvanized steel tubs that farm and ranch folks will recognize as stock tanks. Finished with natural or painted wood, the tubs are fitted with a water reservoir and fabric capillaries to wick moisture.

"Deep-rooted vegetables like tomatoes will wrap their roots around the wick," said co-owner Susan Holden Walsh. Watering from the bottom avoids the issues of soil compaction and overwatering, and the reservoir acts as a thermal regulator.

Walsh and her husband Bob developed the tubs for four-season vegetable growing in the sunroom of their Boulder home. Because the room faces the street, "We wanted something that would look nice," she said.

Depending on the tub's size and weather conditions, a Farm Tub's reservoir holds enough to last 10 days to two weeks, Walsh said. They start at $250 for a 2-by-2-by-3-foot galvanized tub. farmtub.com

Outdoor lighting

Adding light to outdoor rooms and the rest of your landscape makes it usable and beautiful year-round.

Advances in LED technology can now give lights hues as visually warm as halogens with fewer maintenance issues and more than 80 percent lower energy costs, said Mead Noss of Outdoor Lighting Perspectives in Englewood.

Lighting outdoor rooms, landscaping and architectural features "brings the outside in and expands the living space into the evening," Noss said. As one client who works long hours told him, "she likes to see what the yard looks like when she gets home."

Fixtures in copper and unfinished steel develop a patina that lets them blend invisibly into the landscape, Noss said. Best of all, "bumps and scrapes will re-patinate" in a way that aluminum or powder-coated metal can't. outdoorlights.com

This Oriflamme fire table runs off of a propane tank concealed in the base. (Provided by Oriflamme)