We’ve survived the dog days of summer. The days are less sweltering; mornings and nights are refreshingly crisp. But before you retreat indoors and surrender the patio until spring, we have a precious few weeks of prime outdoor-hosting weather still on the calendar. Fall brunches! Back-to-school-related gatherings! Dinner outside without immediately sweating through your clothes! There’s life in the old patio yet.
If you’re anything like exuberantly maximalist interior designer Corey Damen Jenkins, for whom the indoor-outdoor thing isn’t some belabored-to-death design cliché but a genuine non-negotiable, you already have a game plan.
‘This is the moment I start layering back in the things that make a space feel enveloping.’ Corey tells Homes & Gardens, having recently done this exact outdoor entertaining prep in his Chesapeake Bay Colonial Revival project, featured in his book Design Reimagined.
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Resist the urge to do away with all the super-summery fare you’ve accumulated. A couple of cushions and a weightier textile are enough to transition into fall.
(Image credit: Andrew Frasz. Design: Corey Damen Jenkins)
The candy-pink cushions you bought back in May were cute, but autumnal outdoor living calls for moodier details. ‘I’ll swap out anything too lightweight or summer-breezy for cushions and throws in a richer, more saturated palette. Deep greens, ochres, a touch of chocolate or burnt umber – the same way I’d adjust a room’s accent colors for a new season indoors,’ he explains. ‘Textiles shift with the temperature too – lighter linens and cottons can give way to heavier, richly textured weaves.’
And since the sun, rudely, is clocking out earlier, supplemental outdoor lighting makes both you and your patio feel warmer as the days shorten. ‘The biggest shift is that evenings arrive earlier and cooler now, so lighting has to work harder and warmer. Where I’d let a space carry itself on natural light through August, I’m now bringing in lanterns and hurricane candles earlier in the evening, and swapping anything stark or cool-toned for warmer bulbs.’
It’s a relatively tiny tweak that drives home, pun intended, that decidedly indoor feeling Corey’s outdoor spaces are known for. To him, a patio should be every bit as layered, interesting, and nuanced as your best indoor room – not some half-baked purgatory where design standards go to die once waterproofing enters the equation. And that continuity always starts with a clear conversation between both sides of the sliding glass.
Corey separates church and state with distinct seating and dining areas divided by a center table, then layers in a sofa, chairs, daybed, banquette, pillows, and a skirted console. Antique blues and whites echo what’s happening inside.
(Image credit: Andrew Frasz. Design: Corey Damen Jenkins)
‘What actually creates cohesion between the two is letting the site do some of the talking – pulling color and material cues from what’s already there – like the stone and the landscaping around the home – rather than trying to recreate the same exact look of the interior,’ says Corey. ‘When a space is clearly responding to its environment, it reads as intentional and specific, which does more to tie indoors and outdoors together than any matching patterns or styles could.’
But don’t forget the big ‘P’ – Personality – which ultimately makes a patio a place to be. Who wants to eat alfresco in an accessories-less space? Not any magpie that I know. ‘Weaving in a meaningful piece or detail that nods to how they actually live and plan to use the space elevates it well past the standard outdoor furniture package – something as simple as a well-proportioned table sized for the way a family actually gathers, rather than a matching lounge set.’
‘I treat outdoor spaces with the same design rigor as any interior room, which means finding real solutions for bringing indoor-caliber pieces outside, not just weatherproof stand-ins. The elements force a kind of creative problem-solving, and I’ve learned to treat that as an invitation rather than a limitation.’
Luxury lives in the details, and the less overtly ‘outdoor,’ the better. Vintage ginger jars, mounted plates, and even drapes are all welcome to the party.
(Image credit: Andrew Frasz. Design: Corey Damen Jenkins)
‘The client had spent years amassing antiques, and my job was to give that collection a cohesive home, straight through to the veranda,’ Corey adds of his Chesapeake project. ‘We mounted antique blue-and-white porcelain plates onto custom metal grilles and fixed them to the exterior brick walls to create a sophisticated look you’d expect indoors, engineered to survive outside. Her vintage ginger jars found a place outside too, weighted with rocks and sand to hold their ground even in the wind. It made the home feel like one continuous, personal narrative rather than an indoor story with an unrelated outdoor postscript.’
And that’s the secret to a less snoozey outdoor setup. Since everyone has a unique indoor story of their own, yours needn’t necessarily involve (outdoor-friendly) porcelain plates bolted to brick. If you love antique-style upholstery, translate that into an all-weather floral sofa. If you love horses and have saddle leathers lining your living room, why wouldn’t a little stone stallion keep your plant children company?
Whatever your particular decorative affliction, let it outside. The best outdoor spaces for any sort of revelry – parties, meals, and general hanging around – actually feel like the people who live there. A couple of odd, personal accessories will get you closer to that elusive ‘designer’ touch.
Personality matters on any guest list. Your patio is no exception.
(Image credit: Andrew Frasz. Design: Corey Damen Jenkins)
Of course, a well-dressed patio can still be a terrible party host, and there’s one mistake Corey sees all the time that seriously stymies the flow of a gathering. Fortunately, it’s the only part of the patio plan that requires absolutely no shopping whatsoever to fix.‘Scattered seating with no real purpose behind it – furniture pushed to the edges of the space, a table shoved in a corner, nothing arranged with people actually gathering in mind,’ he says, is the ultimate outdoor entertaining faux pas. ‘It leaves guests with nowhere obvious to settle, so they end up bunched around whatever surface has food or drinks on it.’
It’s an uncomfortable scene we know all too well: twelve people packed sardine-close around the crudités while an entire sofa sits empty six feet away. Corey’s trick is essentially a little social grease by way of furniture. ‘The fix is treating the layout the way you would a living room built for parties – creating two or three distinct groupings instead of one catch-all arrangement, so there’s a cozier spot for quieter conversation and a larger one for the bigger crowd. Anchor each grouping with something to gather around, like a table or a fire feature, so people have a reason to land there rather than just stand.’
And wherever they land, give guests a good reason to want to stay, beyond the fact they’ve already enjoyed a couple of aperitifs. If you’re yet to invest in the perfect outdoor furniture (it’s never too late in the season!), Corey’s indoor wishlist doesn’t change with the lack of a roof: craftsmanship, a great silhouette, and non-basic, actually enticing fabric are all a must.
Every autumnal transition you make inside applies outdoors, too. Heavier layers, warmer light, and Corey’s requisite dose of whimsy intact.
(Image credit: Andrew Frasz. Design: Corey Damen Jenkins)
‘Outdoor furniture has long suffered from a kind of resignation, as if comfort and beauty have to be sacrificed the moment you step outside,’ he laments. ‘I don’t accept that – every piece of furniture in an outdoor space should still have presence, still invite you to sit down and stay awhile, whether it’s in a sunroom or on a patio.’
That’s pretty much Corey’s whole fall patio strategy: stop treating the patio like a patio. Steal the best stuff from indoors – the flattering light, the weightier textiles, the weird little objects with stories, the furniture arranged in a way that actually makes sense – and take it outside. A cushion swap here, a lantern there, maybe a couple of horses guarding the steps if the spirit moves you.
Summer may be over. Patio season, however, is not.
Some call it crisp, others call it cold. If you’re already reaching for a sweater, these five designer-recommended ways to warm up a late-summer, early-autumn patio should help.
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