Outdoor Living Trends Our Design Team Loves: Designer Insights

Outdoor living has become one of the most requested parts of a new home, with buyers asking for covered porches, built-in kitchens, fire features, and large sliding doors that blur the line between inside and out. 

At Caruso Homes, backyard design starts as a structural choice and an integrated living extension of the floor plan, not something tacked on after move-in.

Here's what our design team is seeing most, and how each one fits into your homebuilding plans.

Covered Porches and Decks 

A covered porch or deck is the outdoor living feature our design team hears requested more than any other. It gives a home a shaded, weather-protected place to enjoy the outside without waiting on a separate structure to get built later. Most commonly, you’ll see this as a welcoming front entry or a space off the kitchen.

Covered porch/deck details to confirm with your design consultant:

• Whether ceiling fans and lighting are wired in from the start
• Any HOA rules on porch size or style
• Enough depth for furniture, usually 8 to 10 feet

Several Caruso elevations include a covered front porch in the base design. A screened porch off the back is typically its own structural design choice, selected as part of the floor plan before construction begins.

"It's rare that someone skips the covered porch or deck option. Somewhere around 90-95% of our buyers choose it when it’s available, and honestly, once you've had your morning coffee there, watched a summer storm roll in, enjoyed a fall breeze, or relaxed on a mild winter afternoon; you realize it’s not just a porch or deck, it’s one of the most used living spaces in the home." - Cory Krajewski, Design Consultant, Caruso Homes

Several Caruso elevations include a covered front porch in the base design, and it's practically part of the architecture itself across our Craftsman-style homes. 

A screened deck off the back is typically its own structural design choice, not always included as part of the floor plan. But we do offer covered porch options across many plans, including the Fontana in Raleigh and Kingsport II in Maryland.

Fire Features 

A fire pit or outdoor fireplace stretches outdoor living into the cooler months, giving a covered porch or patio a reason to get used well past summer. Some buyers choose a simple gas line stub for a future fire pit. Others build a full fireplace into a covered porch for a true four-season space.

Like many features in your home, adding an outdoor fire feature comes down to timing. A gas line is far easier to run while walls and slabs are still open than after the home is finished.

Fire feature decisions that affect the plan:

• Gas line versus wood-burning, since usually only one gets built into the structure
• Required clearance from the covered porch or home
• Built into hardscaping or added as a freestanding feature

Backyard design like this depends on what a specific homesite and community allow, which is why some Caruso floor plans build it in directly. 

The Charleston floor plan in our Raleigh/Durham communities offers an optional screened porch and loggia, a covered, open-air gallery, with a built-in outdoor fireplace. 

The Annapolis, part of our Maryland Craftsman collection, offers a similar screened porch and outdoor fireplace off an optional morning room. 

Either way, working through what's realistic for your lot with a design consultant is part of the Caruso Experience.

Outdoor Kitchens

A built‑in outdoor kitchen is a popular after‑move‑in upgrade that many buyers today desire—which is exactly why it’s worth planning for early. Gas lines, electrical wiring, and even optional plumbing all need to be routed before the foundation is poured. Adding those utilities later is possible, but it’s a much bigger, more disruptive, and more costly project.

Because these connections affect the home’s structure, any custom requests for future outdoor‑kitchen prep must be made during your structural selections appointment, typically within the first couple of weeks after signing. 

Your Caruso design consultant can help you identify which porch or patio options in your plan can be easily adapted into a full outdoor kitchen when you’re ready to build it.

Sliding Doors 

Large sliding doors are central to indoor-outdoor living design, opening the great room straight onto a covered porch or patio. A wide sliding glass opening needs a properly sized structural header and rough opening planned into the framing early. Adding one after the home is built usually means cutting into a load-bearing wall, a significantly bigger project than starting with it in the plan.

Sliding door decisions to confirm with your design consultant:

• Which rooms make sense for a wide opening (i.e., the great room or primary suite)
• Whether the wall is load-bearing, which affects header size and cost
• How a large glass expanse affects energy efficiency and HVAC performance
• How much the opening changes natural light in the room

Several Caruso floor plans already build this in. Many of our homes featuring a first-floor owner suite can include a slider off the primary suite that opens directly to an outdoor space, and our Townhome Series offers a retractable sliding door option on select plans that opens the main living area straight into the backyard or deck area.

That kind of forward planning comes from four decades of building across Maryland, Delaware, Pennsylvania, and North Carolina. Read more about what 40 years of building has taught our team.

Bring These Trends to Your Own Backyard

Choosing these features as part of your original floor plan means the cost rolls into your primary construction loan instead of becoming a separate expense to finance after move-in. It also keeps the feature covered under the same builder warranty as the rest of the home instead of falling outside it.

"The most successful outdoor spaces aren't necessarily the most elaborate. They're the ones that support the way a homeowner wants to live, whether that's entertaining friends, spending time with family, or simply enjoying a quiet moment outdoors." - Cory Krajewski, Design Consultant, Caruso Homes

See these features come to life in real Caruso homes in our gallery, then bring your own outdoor living wish list to your first design conversation.

Outdoor Living Trends FAQ

What is the most popular outdoor living space?

Covered and screened porches are the most requested outdoor living feature among Caruso buyers. They give homeowners a shaded, weather-protected space with open airflow, without the cost or wait of adding one after move-in.

Can I add a luxury outdoor kitchen after my home is built, or should the builder do it?

It's best to have the builder prep the site structurally during the initial build. Planning gas hookups, electrical, and a covered foundation upfront avoids tearing up a finished yard later to add utilities.

Is a covered porch worth it on a new build?

Yes. It's the single most requested outdoor feature among Caruso buyers, and building it in from the start typically costs less than adding a porch structure after move-in.

How do I create a seamless indoor-outdoor transition?

A wide sliding glass door is the most common way to do this, most often connecting the great room to a covered porch or patio. Many buyers also choose the same feature off the primary suite instead. Either placement works best when it's chosen as part of the original floor plan, since the opening needs a properly sized structural header planned into the framing from the start.