By Brenna Malmberg, Houzz
When we asked Houzzers to share their most-loved spots, a theme arose: great spots with great views. Let’s take a look at these spaces and enjoy the views the home dwellers love.
Isis Wu and her family enjoy this window-filled sunroom all year long in Roswell, Georgia. “It’s bright, full of sunshine, has lots of comfy seating and a beautiful view into the backyard,” Wu says. The view offers sightings of wildlife, such as deer, and seasonal flowers, such as azaleas in the summer and pear blossoms in the spring.
The family congregates in the sunroom for meals and crafting time. “The skylights make it feel as if we’re basking in the sun,” Wu says. Her husband likes to do office work from the desk and is known to take a nap on the daybed. Wu also enjoys the room’s proximity to the kitchen, which allows her to watch over the kids and take in great outdoor views. “No matter rain or shine,” she says, “the room is always bright and cheery.”
This living room sits at the center of Beverly Peters’ Marble Hill, Missouri, home. It’s a hub of family activity, yet still manages to keep a serene and comfortable feel, Peters says. She works from home, typically sitting at the table behind the sofa, and loves the outdoor views the spot affords her. “The only downside is I sometimes get distracted from my work by watching eagles, ducks, deer or some other wildlife,” she says.
Through the windows, the family has views of the lake below, a tree canopy and a large expanse of sky. They can watch the seasons and weather change. Winter brings big sky views, eagles, migrating waterfowl and snowstorms. “In the spring, you can literally watch the leaves unfurl in front of you,” she says. Summer means scenes filled with lush, green vegetation, swimming kids and thunderstorms. Fall brings changing leaves and the best sunsets.
And at night, they can stargaze. “I’ve even watched a lunar eclipse while lying on the sofa,” Peters says.
This studio space greets Lynn Purse and her family with ample sunshine and inspiration. The south-facing windows let lots of light stream in as family members read by the fire, challenge each other to a chess match or play the piano. The scene beyond the windows — tall trees and wildlife — continually inspires Purse as she composes music on a piano given to her by her late aunt, who was a concert pianist. “The window on the woods and garden is a year-round spectacle,” she says.
The view includes a deciduous forest at the back of her Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, property. “In the summer, it is a wall of green; in the winter, it looks like a fairyland when it snows,” she says. Her plants below on the deck attract hummingbirds, butterflies and bees, and the woods are filled with birds, such as woodpeckers, owls and hawks.
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Kimann Schultz likes to retreat to this cozy spot in her home. Compared with the rest of the Indianapolis, Indiana, house, this corner of the master bedroom has a lower ceiling and a smaller scale, she says. For additional coziness, the family used dark paint on the walls, added muslin curtain frames on the doors that lead to the deck and filled the sofa with down pillows, a faux fur coverlet and crocheted afghan.
Snuggled onto the couch, Schultz watches the seasons change outside the large windows. “I so love the fall, when the maples turn gold then go bare,” she says. “I can then see way into the woods, and I love that transparency.” She also watches the birds and deer, especially a doe and two babies that the family have seen grow up.
Houzz user JmsPdx loves everything about this great room in the family’s Mount Hood, Oregon, house, especially the view of the Sandy River through the French doors. The year-round lodge feel is complete with a 22-foot-high fireplace made in 1925 from local stone. During the winter months, family members keep the fire crackling, and in the summer, they open the French doors to listen to the rushing river. This gives the spot not only a great view, but a great sound.
A lot fits into this narrow porch in John OBrien’s Coronado, California, home. This window-lined, second-floor porch acts as a favorite dining spot but is also great for relaxing with a good book or the morning paper. The porch, which is 8 feet by 6 feet, includes a built-in bench, a dining table and windows that swing to the ceiling. “It’s certainly cozy, but that is the fun of it,” OBrien says. “And the view of the park and Pacific Ocean is pretty special.”
From the second-story vantage point, the family can watch people playing Frisbee in the park and ships sailing into the harbor. At night, they can watch the lights of Playas de Tijuana, Mexico, twinkle. “The view is best in the summer,” OBrien says, “because we will raise the windows to the ceiling as the day and night time temperatures are pleasant and the view is unobstructed.”
Every morning, Lisa Amico Kristel walks into her office at 5:30 a.m., a hot cup of coffee in her hand. She lights a pair of candles and then settles down at the keyboard to work on her novel. She spends a lot of time here, so it’s no surprise that she loves many things about the room. She loves the design: African slate floors, cushy chairs and framed art throughout the space. She loves the function: a place dedicated to her writing, from a master’s thesis to an in-progress novel. And lastly, she loves the view. The room is wrapped in windows, and her desk faces the east so she can watch the sky turn to orange as the sun rises. “When I feel like procrastinating,” she says, “I watch dozens of birds alight on the feeders hanging from the trees or on the outdoor sills where I sprinkle extra seeds.”
She loves this view in Oyster Bay, New York, all year long, but winter stands out as a favorite. The sunrise is softer. Red cardinals flit among the snowy leaves of the dark green hedges. Other birds leave little footprints across her snow-covered lawn. “Winter sights like these are my favorite distractions,” she says.
Her pup, Jasper, also loves this view and spends hours watching the birds alongside Kristel as she works.
This porch in Huntsville, Alabama, feels like a treehouse most of the time to its owner, Tracy Bond. Bond and her family live in a wooded area, so the porch places them right in the middle of nature. “The wooded view from the porch will make your blood pressure drop,” she says. “It’s that calming.”
When they aren’t relaxing and watching the birds, they use the space to entertain friends and family. And because they live in the South, Bond says, they can use this outdoor oasis all year long.
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