What exactly is a California room? A California room is an indoor/outdoor living room where you can relax and entertain. It is an extension of your indoor living space to the outside and it embodies a laid-back, calming atmosphere where you can enjoy the outdoors, spend time with family, dine, and entertain guests. The California room is a growing home design trend that is becoming increasingly popular each year—according to Zillow, more than 56% of new homebuyers desire an outdoor living space. If you are investing in home upgrades to improve your lifestyle, consider creating a California room which will be a timeless addition to your space and increase your quality of life.

Creating an Indoor/Outdoor California Room

Anyone can create a California room in their home, whether the outdoor space is expansive or cozy. A California room should have a seating area with comfortable outdoor chairs or couches where you can gather with friends and family and relax.

Another important element of this trend is the outdoor dining space—you can have a large dining table or, to save space, a more compact pub-style table where you can savor meals while enjoying the weather and surrounding nature.

A great addition to your California room is a fireplace or firepit. This will keep you warm on cooler nights and create ambiance in the space, making it feel extra cozy. A fire feature brings people together where they can roast marshmallows, listen to music, and tell stories, creating lasting memories with loved ones.

If you’re working with a more expansive outdoor area, you might consider including an outdoor kitchen in your California room design. This will create a convenient spot for barbecuing and serving outdoor meals on the patio.

Another popular feature of the California room is a TV/media area equipped with an outdoor television. This is great for hosting outdoor movie night or sports viewing parties.

Don’t forget to accessorize your outdoor space— you’ll want to have comfy seating with plush cushions, cozy throw blankets for cuddling up on cool evenings, outdoor rugs and throw pillows, coffee and side tables, and more. This space is essentially a second living room that will require the same design attention as your other living spaces.

Enhance Your California Room with Accordion Glass Doors

One way to really embrace the California room design is by using accordion glass doors to make walls disappear and create a large opening in your home. You can replace your old sliding glass door or French doors with an expansive accordion door and create a wall of moving glass.

With a large accordion glass door, you will blur the line between inside and out, and extend your indoor living space to your outdoor California room. This design is ideal for entertaining because it creates more room for guests to migrate between spaces.

It will still feel like an open-air, California-style space when your accordion glass doors are closed because of all the extra natural light and views you will have, created by this wall of glass.

Multi-Slide Doors for California Living

If you feel like accordion glass doors are a little too whimsical for your space, another option for opening your home to the outside are multi-slide doors. These doors are clean, modern, and contemporary and can create a seamless connection to your outdoor California room. You can choose to have your multi-slide doors pocketed into the wall, so when they are opened, they completely disappear.

Non-pocketed multi-slide doors will still leave you with a large open space, however door panels will stack on one or both sides of the opening.

Creating a California room in your home will be worth the time and money. You will have a space made for living and entertaining and you won’t know how you made it this long without one. A great place to find further design inspiration is Houzz.com—you can search for project inspiration and you can even find an outdoor and landscape architect in your area who can help you design your dream space.

To learn more about creating a California room in your home with accordion glass doors or multi-slide doors, click here. You can also talk to a patio door expert about your upcoming project by filling out this form.