When the party moves from the kitchen to the living room to the patio in one seamless flow, you know the design works.
DabneyCollins’ Founding Principal Dabney Peeples and owner and CEO Kenny Collins work with clients to take advantage of the Upstate’s four seasons as they create enduring designs that merge outdoor and indoor living spaces.
“We try to do things that we know work for this area, not trying to steal looks and ideas from other parts of the country,” Peeples says. “We have a unique situation here in Greenville and in the Upstate. We have one of the longest outdoor times, almost anywhere in the country.”
The area does have challenges, Peeples says, notably the pollen season. But generally speaking, families can count on being able to spend much of the year outside.
“That's possibly the No. 1 focus – to make this outdoor space something that you don't beg people to go into, but you look around and they're always out there because it’s comfortable, accessible, beautiful and interesting,” Peeples says. “And it changes with the seasons. It doesn't look exactly the same 365 days a year. Contemporary designers are thinking more of a 12-month way of entertaining outside.”
Enhancing that, luxury outdoor living amenities are leaps and bounds beyond those of just a few years ago, like concert-quality outdoor speakers and subtle, useful lighting.
“We also have a wide variety of traditional hardscapes that have been reworked that are less maintenance than before and they last a lot longer when properly installed,” Peeples says. “We have a much wider variety of plant material.”
Some of the biggest advances have come in outdoor furniture, which Peeples says is not the wire chairs our grandmothers had. Now, cushions are thick and comfortable and they don’t have to be taken inside.
Outdoor kitchens, firepits, fireplaces, heaters, mosquito control and yes, even outdoor air conditioning mean big style can meet big function. Outdoor comfort and elegance can match high-end interior living.
“What we strive to do at DabneyCollins is to have an easy segue from inside to outside,” Peeples says. “If the architect has done his job, and we've done our job, it takes the family a few minutes to realize they're actually outside.”
Collins says the goal with creating an outdoor space is to have a garden that is solid, with plant material that is constantly evolving and adding interest.
“It’s dynamic, it’s not static,” he says. “The garden is changing with the seasons and it’s much more interesting, so that just draws you out.”
dabneycollins.com.
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