Have you ever noticed that most houses are situated on their lots rather like vehicles that have landed from outer space? Even if there's landscaping surrounding the house, there's often little or no consideration given to whether any of it can be seen from the interior. Windows are generally located in the middle of the wall of each room, with little thought given to the quality of the view from within the space.
Most of us love to feel connected to nature, and we benefit greatly from access to daylight and the beauty of living vegetation. But to imbue our homes with these inside-outside connections, it's best to design both environments together, arranging windows, doors, decks, porches, and terraces to take advantage of key features of the landscape. If there's a special tree on the property, for example, this may become the inspiration for a long view through the house and may even suggest the orientation and layout of the house on the lot.
Working with an existing home, you can design the surrounding landscape features to be seen from the main sitting places in the house, either through existing windows or by adding windows and doorways.
When both inside and outside work hand in hand, the result is a home that extends far beyond its actual walls.
Adapted with permission from Home by Design by Sarah Susanka, published by The Taunton Press (2004).