Exactly How We’re Designing Our Beach House Dining Room

When I first visited small beach house in malibuI fell in love with its iconic covered terrace. It felt like an actual dining room, but with waves crashing right next to you. Sitting under the beautiful wooden pergola, the sea breeze blew through and it felt like the line between indoors and outdoors was completely blurred. I remember thinking. This is the most beautiful dining room I’ve ever seen. Honestly, with over 300 days of sunshine a year, why wouldn’t you build your main dining space outdoors?

So when our architect showed us his Malibu renovation plans, we made what might seem like an unconventional decision. This means that the main dining room is not located in the house at all. Instead, they’re creating an outdoor dining room that connects directly to the Great Room via a 30-foot-tall glass wall. marvin Pocket Door – A space specially designed for the leisurely weekend breakfasts and prime-time dinner parties that make California living special.

This outdoor room works because it seamlessly connects to the indoor great room. A motor is added to the glass door so that the entire wall disappears into the structure at the push of a button. Suddenly, the kitchen island, indoor living space, and outdoor dining room become one continuous flow.

Vision: Outdoor room that feels like a living space

I’ve always been drawn to spaces that challenge the traditional indoor/outdoor divide. Restaurants and hotels that stay with me long after I leave are places where I have no idea whether I’m inside or outside. A place where fabrics blow in the breeze, where you sink into soft cushions worthy of a living room, where the design has been considered as much as the interior. That’s my goal with this space: the true outdoors. roomnot just a furnished patio.

The centerpiece of this space is an overhead pergola inspired by the stunning terrace of Little Beach House (see above for location under construction). The use of rich, warm wooden beams creates beautiful dappled light during the day and an intimate, closed-in feel at night.

I have two installed infratech Attach the heaters (one on each side of the patio) directly to the overhead frame. This makes the space comfortable to use even on chilly Malibu nights. Lighting is intentionally kept to a minimum. Small wall sconces attached to the pergola beams cast a warm, ambient light, similar to candlelight.

The deck flooring is made from Ipe, an incredibly dense and weather-resistant hardwood that ages beautifully over time. Its rich, warm tones complement the pergola beams above, and it’s known as one of the most durable materials for outdoor decking. It becomes even more beautiful as it weathers and develops a silvery patina.

El Chiringuito The seating I’m designing for this space was inspired by Ibiza.

Seat: Ibiza Banquet Vibes

Another source of inspiration was El Chiringuito, a beach club we loved during our trip. Travel to Ibiza A few summers ago. Instead of standard dining chairs, there were comfy banquettes with soft cushions and plenty of pillows, the type of seating where you could lounge for hours, moving seamlessly from dinner to dessert and sipping wine while enjoying star appearances.

That’s the feel I want to recreate here, so I’m sourcing an upholstered banquette/loveseat situation along one side of the dining area. perennial fabricdesigned to withstand the elements while maintaining a luxurious feel and softness. I’m still looking for a 12-foot tall teak table to put together, so it would ideally seat 10-14 people.

Paradero Hotel At Todos Santos, it’s all about the drape of this fabric.

Outdoor curtains: should I add them?

when we stayed Paradero Hotel At Todos Santos, we fell in love with how sheer fabrics can be used to create contour and block wind in outdoor spaces while maintaining this ethereal quality. The way the fabrics swayed in the breeze and filtered light transformed the space into something ritualistic.

I’d like to incorporate something similar here, but to be honest I don’t fully understand it yet. This is one of the details that may come as a “phase two” development once we live in the space and can really understand how the wind patterns work, where we need more protection, and where we want to preserve the landscape. Sometimes the best design decisions are made by actually living in the space first.

Landscape: beach grass and gravel

We work together to make this truly feel like an outdoor room. fiore landscape design Plant beach grass around the area. These move in the breeze, softening the edges of your hardscape and creating a natural coastal feel that is essential to the overall aesthetic. Combined with the property’s gravel paths and surrounding olive and citrus trees, the dining room feels like it blends into the landscape rather than being forced into it.

where we are and where we are heading

The frame of the pergola is complete (I love the contrast with the mountains), and I’m about to start laying the ipe deck. Every time I visit the place and stand under the wooden beams and admire the view, I can already imagine how it feels to gather here.

Saturday morning is a leisurely breakfast of coffee and fresh pastries while everyone is still in their pajamas. A summer dinner party with friends, family-style platters on the table, wine flowing, and the sky turning pink as the sun sets behind the mountains. On a weeknight, it was just the four of us having a quiet dinner with heat lamps burning overhead.

This sums up my California dream. It’s about bringing the indoors outdoors, removing boundaries and creating spaces that invite you to linger, savor and be fully present. I can’t wait to start making memories here!