The Inside-outside room

[TBRS1]

Because my life has been filled with a sequence of doing OK, immediately followed by a state of suddenly being desperately poor, I've had the opportunity to experiment with living under very different conditions over the last 66 years.

I have found that I am very sensitive to my surroundings - a thing I attribute to being autistic, and a result of sensory issues.

To make a long story short - I thrive outdoors, but shrivel inside, much like a tree.

The secret to happiness, IMHO, is "know thyself."

So, knowing myself and desiring happiness, I built an outside room to live in.

Here are a few pictures (note: I have an active but childlike fantasy life. Just go with it. It's OK):

To get to the inside-outside room, you have to go to Narnia. You'll know when you get there because of the lions.

Once you are in Narnia, the scenery is lovely and full of flowers.

In Narnia, even the skeletons are friendly, possibly because their closest neighbor (the one they're waving to) is named Mary.

Follow the clearly marked trail...

And, suddenly, there you are. The silver plated serving dish on the table is full of peanuts for the squirrels, birds, raccoon, opossum, porkypines, and other small hungry things that like to visit.

This is the easiest possible room to clean. If anything gets spilled or dumped, an invisible cleanup crew comes in at night to clear up, and they never bill me for the work done.

The wallpaper changes itself seasonally. Right now, the color scheme is black/brown/grey with green accents. In a month that entire color palette with have inverted itself as the accents colors take over.

 

[Mary Terry]

I consider my screened front porch and the backyard patio which is covered by a pergola to be outdoor rooms. Both have weather-resistant furniture, electrical outlets and ceiling fans. We have a small wooden deck outside the mud room/laundry room, too, but no furniture there, just plants. My old cats love hanging out on the front porch where they feel safe from predators and can watch the world go by. I like the porch because mosquitoes can't get in there. There's another small brick patio near the garage with some wooden benches and lots of potted plants, shaded by a huge pecan tree. Outdoor living is a very southern thing except during winter. Even in winter, we sometimes light a chiminea for warmth and toasting marshmallows. We have wrought iron chairs and a table on the back patio where we sometimes eat meals.

 

[WhitewaterWoman]

Because my life has been filled with a sequence of doing OK, immediately followed by a state of suddenly being desperately poor, I've had the opportunity to experiment with living under very different conditions over the last 66 years.

I have found that I am very sensitive to my surroundings - a thing I attribute to being autistic, and a result of sensory issues.

To make a long story short - I thrive outdoors, but shrivel inside, much like a tree.

The secret to happiness, IMHO, is "know thyself."

So, knowing myself and desiring happiness, I built an outside room to live in.

Here are a few pictures (note: I have an active but childlike fantasy life. Just go with it. It's OK):

To get to the inside-outside room, you have to go to Narnia. You'll know when you get there because of the lions.



View attachment 142426

Once you are in Narnia, the scenery is lovely and full of flowers.

View attachment 142427
View attachment 142428

In Narnia, even the skeletons are friendly, possibly because their closest neighbor (the one they're waving to) is named Mary.

View attachment 142429

View attachment 142430

Follow the clearly marked trail...

View attachment 142431

And, suddenly, there you are. The silver plated serving dish on the table is full of peanuts for the squirrels, birds, raccoon, opossum, porkypines, and other small hungry things that like to visit.

View attachment 142432

This is the easiest possible room to clean. If anything gets spilled or dumped, an invisible cleanup crew comes in at night to clear up, and they never bill me for the work done.

The wallpaper changes itself seasonally. Right now, the color scheme is black/brown/grey with green accents. In a month that entire color palette with have inverted itself as the accents colors take over.

Thank you for posting and providing pictures of your outside space. I am much happier outside than inside. Most of the time.

So, you don't have mosquitos nor rain? Where I live, the mosquitos make netting a requirement and rain makes a covering a requirement and by the time I get all that done, I might as well be on my front or back porch.

But I love the idea.

Incidentally. Apparently there are no mosquitos in Switzerland. At least that is what my informant told me. Reason enough to move there.

 

[TBRS1]

Thank you for posting and providing pictures of your outside space. I am much happier outside than inside. Most of the time.

So, you don't have mosquitos nor rain? Where I live, the mosquitos make netting a requirement and rain makes a covering a requirement and by the time I get all that done, I might as well be on my front or back porch.

But I love the idea.

Incidentally. Apparently there are no mosquitos in Switzerland. At least that is what my informant told me. Reason enough to move there.

Alas, there are mosquitos, and ticks. In the spring, especially, a person in the forest will be surrounded by a cloud of mosquitoes. The only actual working solution I've found is bug spray.

Which is gross, but for me, an acceptable bit of ick.

Switzerland sound nice. I hate mosquitos. I'm fairly certain that they are the reason clothes were invented.

As far as rain goes, anything that isn't waterproof can't be left out. I am planning a shed so I can store a few things out there. Most things (that aren't edible) get stashed in a waterproof bin for now.

 

[SusanLR]

I really like this. I enjoy being outside with nature too and the creative "Narnia" ideas is nice.
I have a small garden with a concrete bench under a large evergreen with a circle of stones around flowers and a black lamppost in the center. I call it Cair Paravel.
Squirrels, rabbits and birds sit around, and I feed them.

I don't think I would have been banned from Narnia, like Peter and Susan, because I've never lost the childlike awe and ways of thinking.

 

[TBRS1]

I really like this. I enjoy being outside with nature too and the creative "Narnia" ideas is nice.
I have a small garden with a concrete bench under a large evergreen with a circle of stones around flowers and a black lamppost in the center. I call it Cair Paravel.
Squirrels, rabbits and birds sit around, and I feed them.

I don't think I would have been banned from Narnia, like Peter and Susan, because I've never lost the childlike awe and ways of thinking.

That sounds truly delightful.

I'm still looking for a nice lamppost . Gotta have one!

 

[Aspychata]

We have a Florida room, and sometimes at night , l like to sit in it by myself. It's peaceful, and l am alone, which l really need as l age. Being alone, and hearing birds, or seeing the tree frog jumping on our car is quite delightful. Yesterday, l drove my partner for a medical appointment, and four beautiful deer were standing at the lake's edge oblivious to the cars driving by.

 

[TBRS1]

We have a Florida room, and sometimes at night , l like to sit in it by myself. It's peaceful, and l am alone, which l really need as l age. Being alone, and hearing birds, or seeing the tree frog jumping on our car is quite delightful. Yesterday, l drove my partner for a medical appointment, and four beautiful deer were standing at the lake's edge oblivious to the cars driving by.

That sounds very relaxing.

I leave little bowls of wet moss out.

Frequently there will be a tree frog relaxing in there when I check. It's nice to know the preferences and customs of small things so you know where to look to see them as they hang about being themselves.

Humming birds are a lot of fun, too, if you know how to invite them in.