March 9, 2025 • 33 mins
Dean offers tips and tricks for you to maximize the outdoor space at your home. From storage options to opening up space for entertaining, Dean talk about it all and offers the latest details and trends to the most bang for your buck!
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Episode Transcript
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Speaker 1 (00:00):
KFI AM six forty. You're listening to Dean Sharp The
House Whisper on demand on the iHeart Radio app. Hey,
welcome home. I'm Dean Sharp the House Whisper. I design
custom homes, build a few custom homes, and on the weekends,
I am your guide to better understanding that place where
(00:22):
you live. So glad that you are with us on
the program today. I will try not to disappoint today
on the show. I don't know if you've noticed, but
you know spring is Spring's already here in southern California.
I don't know what the weather is looking like exactly
where you may be across this great nation of ours.
(00:44):
I know there are some looking at the weather this morning,
there are some temperatures in the zero, in the tens,
and definitely in the single digits in places I know
for you, you're like, uh, yeah, no spring yet, Dean,
not yet. It's all right, It's all right, it's coming, right,
it is coming. We're only technically, what are we eighteen
(01:05):
nineteen days away from spring something like that? Just no, no, no,
I'm sorry, ten ten or eleven days away from spring.
That's where we're at anyway. Today on the show, we
are going to continue a theme that we started with
our previous episode that would be yesterday's broadcast, or if
(01:27):
you were one of our many podcast listeners, our previous
episode on the podcast. And it's a theme about where
to get the most space for the least amount of money.
And this is specifically geared toward a certain demographic in
our community, of which I belong to right now just
(01:48):
as much as so many of the rest of you.
And that is this. You know, you're you need a
little more space. Inflation has not left, funds are tight,
the stock market, investment portfolio is You're like, what what
does that mean? It's not looking as good as it
(02:11):
has been in the past, and funds are tight, but
so is the house, and so we're looking for a
little bit more elbow room. So I took it upon
myself this week to say, well, you know, there are
two somewhat I mean, they're not bizarre, but they're just
not the typical places we go to in our thinking.
(02:32):
Two places to get more space for the least amount
of money. One was where we went yesterday, which was
the garage. The garage is for most homeowners another four
hundred feet of flexible space that is often neglected and
not utilized fully. And here's another space today that we're
(02:53):
going to spend even more time on, and that is
very simply outside. Outside. There is space, literally all of
the space, everything that isn't inside your own skin and
the few odds and ends that you have within reach
of you in your little cubicle that you live in.
Everything else in the universe is outside, and that's where
(03:18):
there is unquestionably the most space. Yes, even if you
live in a condo and have just a very small patio,
they are still space to be reclaimed. The question is
do we want to go out there? Is it set
up for us to go out there? And is in
a condition or a design condition where we can enjoy outside?
(03:44):
Because if you can enjoy outside, then instantly we've got
more space without adding on, without hiring a contractor without
having to do all the things that we normally think
of doing in terms of getting more space. So today
we're gonna be talking about utilizing outdoors wherever we can
(04:05):
find it in order to, you know, give ourselves a
little bit of more elbow room for living, especially when
budgets are tight and they're just you know, we want
it we'd love to, we'd love to expanding, but not
gonna happen this year. So let's get creative, all right,
And we're going to and we're gonna ask the tough
questions too. We're gonna start off with asking maybe the
(04:28):
toughest question of all, but I'm gonna set that to
the side for a moment so that I can introduce
you to our awesome team. Elmer is on the board
as always. Good morning, Elmer. Oh, hey, good morning. I
missed you last week. I gotta tell you, yeah, I
(04:49):
miss you to day. Producer Michelle Cube is with us
this morning. She is screening call. Oh she's already busy
screening calls, which is the cue for me to tell
you that. And of course we're going to be taking
your calls today as well. And the phone lines are
open right now. And of course there is no somebody
apologized yesterday for calling in on something that was off topic.
(05:11):
There is no off topic when it comes to your calls.
Whenever I take calls, anything you want to discuss that's
got you scratching your head about your home, indoors, outdoors, landscape, hardscape, construction, design, DIY,
whatever the case may be fire it at me. I'm
going to help you out with it. The number to
reach me. The phone lines are open now and the
(05:33):
legendary Michelle Cube is standing by to take your call
and tell you everything you need to know and pop
you into the queue. The number to reach me eight
three three two. Ask Dean eight three three the numeral two,
ask Dean give me a call. You can listen to
the show while you wait, and who knows, we can
put our heads together and figure out what's going on
with your place. Eileen Gonzalez at the news desk, Good morning, Eileen,
(05:57):
Good morning. How is this time change treating you? You
know what? I actually intentionally slept in a little bit
more today and I woke up thinking I had slept
in longer than I had nice. I'm like, hey, I
got two extra hours. No, no, no, I didn't, I
got one. Yeah.
Speaker 2 (06:16):
I need an extra cup of coffee today or tea
because I I don't drink coffee.
Speaker 1 (06:21):
Well, what's the tea of choice for this morning? It's
green tea.
Speaker 2 (06:25):
I love tea.
Speaker 1 (06:27):
There you go, there you go. I love green tea.
You know what? I don't do well with his macha?
Oh I like that? Well, sorry, kids to offend. I'm
just saying. I'm just saying, there's just something a little
I don't know what it is. It's a I don't know,
I don't know. I'm going to try and figure it
(06:48):
out and we'll talk about it later. All right. Across
the table from me, my better half, my design partner,
and my best friend in all the world, tea of
course is.
Speaker 2 (07:03):
Well, excuse me, clear your throat without the mic on,
Oh my goodness, welcome home, Good to see you.
Speaker 1 (07:10):
Good to see you. It's gonna say good to be seen.
It sounds like you need some macha. You need a
little macha. I like macha because it's kind of earthy.
It is earthy. I had something about the powder that's
I don't know, I don't know. Maybe that's a good
word for it. It's a little too. I liked it.
We were we were at five oh seven yesterday. We
(07:31):
were talking to Amber when five oh seven is our
favorite local coffee hangout, and Amber, one of the owners,
was saying, I said, what is this drink?
Speaker 2 (07:40):
And she goes, well, it's basically dirt, and I go,
I can think I'll pass.
Speaker 1 (07:44):
I don't really want to.
Speaker 2 (07:45):
Drink you said, it's very healthy for you. It's earthy
and but like literally it is literally what.
Speaker 1 (07:51):
Was the name of that. I don't remember. I have
to look it up. All right, we'll figure it out anyway.
I'm just drinking coffee. Coffee comes from the coffee bean
and a little water, and that's all. And it works
for me. All right, y'all. When we come back, I'm
going to start today by asking you the most important
(08:11):
and maybe the hardest question when it comes to outdoor living.
You know what that is? Well, you hang tight.
Speaker 3 (08:21):
You're listening to Home with Dean Sharp on demand from
KFI AM six forty.
Speaker 1 (08:27):
Thanks for joining us on the program today. Glad you
are with us. We are talking about where to get
the most space for the least money, and today on
the program we are focusing on outside and right before
the break, I teased you with saying that I was
going to start this whole process by asking you an
(08:48):
important question I think, maybe the most important question when
it comes to outdoors and you are you ready for it?
Have you figured it out? Yeah? I'm gonna guess maybe not.
Because this is something that specifically, as designers, Tina and
I run into all the time. With folks, and it's
(09:10):
gonna make sense when I ask it, and you're asking
yourself the question, when is he going to get around asking?
Is he gonna just keep teasing us about it? No,
I'll do it in a minute or two. No, No,
I'm gonna do it right now here.
Speaker 3 (09:24):
It is.
Speaker 1 (09:27):
What will it take to get you outside?
Speaker 2 (09:32):
Oh?
Speaker 1 (09:33):
Think about that. We live in a very comfy, controlled world.
I mean, I know people who who swear up and down. Now,
this is a younger set of people, and I'm not
trying to stereotype the younger generation at all, but I'm
just saying I know people who literally have looked at
(09:54):
me with all honesty and sincerity in their face and say,
I'm not really an outside person. And I think, Wow,
by saying that, you realize, of course that you are.
And I know it doesn't seem this way to you,
but you are literally missing almost everything, almost everything. Now,
(10:18):
I just want you to consider the fact that it
doesn't matter whether you live in a cottage or a castle.
When I say this, because whether or not you've got
I don't know, two hundred square feet around you inside
your little space, or two thousand square feet in the
room that you happen to be standing in right now,
and my voice is echoing down through the chambers of
(10:42):
your estate. The fact of the matter is it ain't
that big compared to literally everything else in the universe.
Everything mostly is outside. And so the question becomes, as
we can continue to live our ever increasingly small lives,
(11:04):
and it doesn't seem that way because you know, those
little black screens that people are staring into right now
seem like they take you to all sorts of other
places and other things, But in reality, where you actually
are located, it's a pretty small, confined area. And so
I asked the question, what will it take to get
(11:26):
you outside? The amount of money that people spend to
stay insulated comfortable in controlled environments is egregious, egregious amounts
(11:47):
of money to stay that way. In fact, one of
the most common conversations about outside that I have with
a lot of clients are started by them saying, yeah,
we want to spend more time outs. We're thinking about
a California room, and I'm thinking, okay, well, and by
the way, I have nothing against a California room. And
if you don't know what a California room is, it's
(12:09):
basically a room addition onto your house with a lot
of glass in it. Okay, so a lot of glass,
and maybe some of those walls can open up, but
essentially it's a room with a full roof and heating
and air conditioning and a lot of it's a room
(12:30):
so in so many ways, and please again understand me,
I've got nothing against California rooms. They're beautiful if you
can afford them and have them and so on, but
they are not outside. The whole point of a California
room is that it's a hybrid of like almost outside.
(12:51):
We just spent seventy five thousand dollars to get almost outside,
a little get closered outside. I get it, I get it.
So one of the things you know today, we're not
talking to people who have the wherewithal to build a
California room. I'm talking to you and me. And you know,
(13:17):
budgets are tight, but the house is feeling a little tight.
And so one of those ways where we can loosen
things up and get a little bit more elbow space
is getting outside. But the biggest hurdle to doing that,
I would say, the only hurdle to doing that realistically
is somewhere up inside your cranium and answering this question,
(13:41):
what will it take to get you outside? Now? I
can see some of the answers formulating, well, I'm going
to have to be comfortable. Well, I agree with you
one hundred percent. To get you outside, we need to
be comfortable. I mean, there's no point in finding more
(14:03):
elbow space if if we're drowning in sweat, or we're
freezing cold, or we're wet, or we're just not, you know,
enjoying it. The point is enjoying the outside. And so
that's where we have to start breaking things down and
instead of jumping to all of the luxuries that get
(14:25):
pushed at you in all of the design magazines and
websites and everywhere you turn, like, oh, well, you know,
here are people who enjoy being outside because they've just
bought a sixty thousand dollars patio furniture set. Okay, well
that's not in the budget either, Dean, I get you.
I get you. So again, we're going to find the
(14:47):
key to this today by continuing to return to this
question what will it take to get us outside? It's
not just a big open ended question, No, I want
to answer it specifically, so that we can find, in
a minimalist but effective and efficient way, the ways to
get us from inside the house to outside the house
(15:10):
for as little cash out of pocket as possible. If
that's of interest to you, then don't go anywhere, because
that's where we're headed. We're gonna do it right after.
Speaker 3 (15:23):
You're listening to Home with Dean Sharp on demand from
KFI AM six.
Speaker 1 (15:28):
Forty Dean Sharp the House whisper with you like I
am live every Saturday morning from six to eight and
Sundays from nine to noon. Are you running ahead or
behind today because of daylight savings? Probably not. You know,
we don't really have that conversation much anymore now that
(15:48):
phones and electronic clocks just automatically change. Right. There was
that time. I remember when we used to have to
reset the sundial in the mornings. It is weird. It
is weird to feel older, right, And You're like, you
(16:08):
had to go. I mean, we still have some regular
clocks in the house, but not the ones that we
depend on to wake us up and to get us moving, right.
So Tina and I were like, where what clocks have
to be reset today? Oh? Just go room to room
and look around see if there's a clock in there,
that's a stupid clock. Anyway, I hope you are enjoying
(16:29):
your Sunday morning as much as we are, and we are.
We're talking about finding space without paying big bucks to
get it, and today specifically outdoors outdoors, And I've already
sprung the most important question on you. Yes, you can
count on Dean to ask a somewhat philosophical question, or
(16:50):
at least it sounds philosophical to start off the whole
design process. And you know why, by the way, it's
not just because that's just the way I rune. It isn't.
It isn't just that. Okay, not at least from my perspective,
it isn't. It's because you know, the reason we ask
the big questions here on Home, a show that's about home,
(17:13):
is that home is the place where we live our lives.
And you know that has everything to do with I
happen to be a designer who believes that good custom
home design has everything to do with matching that space
to the way people actually live, and that means crawling
inside people's heads from time to time and figuring out
(17:35):
what's important to you. Now, I am not here today
to twist anybody's arm and convince you if you are
an inside dweller, oh, it's a lovely music for us.
I'm not here to convince you that you've got to
get outside. All I'm sitting here is saying is that
(17:56):
outside is where most everything is, and there are inexpensive
ways of getting out there. And the key to finding
those ways and which ones work for you is asking,
what sounds like this big philosophical question, what will it
take to get you outside? Okay, but there's really a
(18:19):
deep practical element to it. In fact, I would say
the entire root of it is truly practical. I love
that Eileen covered this story at the La Arboretum. Right,
the La Arboretum is not a place that you would think,
you know, there's a certain there's a certain kind of
(18:41):
person who goes to the arboretum. Sweetheart, perhaps this weekend
we will visit the Arboretum. Right, but but today, what's
happening at the arboretum barks and bruise. How do you
get more people to the arboretum? How do you get
a different crowd to the La? R read them, well,
(19:01):
bring your dog in. There's beer, and you know what
that's smart. It's just smart thinking, all right. You know, hey,
dogs and beer at the tree Place today. That's the
kind of thinking that I would like to apply to
outdoors for you. Okay, Now, I don't want you roughing it,
(19:25):
I really don't. But the difference between being comfortable and
spending gobs of money on luxuries that go way beyond
comfortable and nice, that's a massive, massive, massive difference, and
it starts in levels of practicality that quite honestly, you
(19:48):
would think as well. He designs customer state homes, he
doesn't think like that. Oh yeah, I do, because I
live in a very small home and we have a
very simple outdoors that we love very much. I also
spent a good deal of my life and still do,
enjoying what other people might call camping. I don't really camp.
(20:09):
I don't really camp. I backpack and mountaineer. And so
for me, the idea of getting outside and spending a
night out in the outdoors is throwing everything you need
on your back and getting miles and miles and miles
away from the nearest automobile or even any road. And
(20:33):
when you grow up in that mindset, you really think
about what do I need to bring with me to
be comfortable. And it's not a lot because it's got
to fit on your back, right, So that's the mindset.
I'm just I'm only saying this to reassure you that
where I want to go with all of these things
and you today is the simplest, most basic, and yet
(20:56):
completely comfortable way. So let's start with down. Sitting down
outside comes speaks to a fundamental truth about furniture. Okay,
and this is a truth that quite often we have
to Well, if you've ever listened to any one of
(21:18):
my furniture shows about the inside of a house, you
will hear me say again and again and again that
the ergonomics and the design of a piece of furniture
is so critical to the furniture experience. Unless you're just again,
you've just got gazillions of dollars and you're going to
(21:38):
furnish a room that you're never gonna sit in, then
who cares? Just whatever it's supposed to look like to you, Fine,
they're not going to sit in it anyway. But so
many people get led astray when they end up going
furniture shopping because they're thinking, oh, we're looking for the thickest,
cushiest cushions. We're looking for the pillowiest pillows, right, because
(21:59):
soft equals comfortable, until, of course, you've sat in a
piece of furniture that has a really spongy, super soft
seat and a really spongy back for more than maybe
ten minutes, and you realize, wow, this thing is I
just find myself kind of shifting around because it's sort
of swallowing me up and it's actually not comfortable. It's
(22:21):
not the right depth of seat cushion for me. My
knees are sticking out too far or they're not sticking
out far enough. The back is too low, the back
is too high, the angle is weird, and so yeah,
when we're buying furniture, as a general rule, we always
always want to sit in that furniture for an extended
(22:44):
period of time in order to verify and as a
general rule, and this is really where it gets critical.
As a general rule, the firmer a piece of furniture,
the longer you will be able to sit in it comfortably.
I kid you not. I want you to think about
a car seat, and not a car seat for a child,
(23:06):
but a seat in an automobile. Okay, These are not
renowned for being super soft and cushy. Okay, they are
ergonomically well designed with just enough cushion in just the
right places, right right exactly. Okay, not big, overblown, puffy seats,
(23:28):
but well designed seats. And so how does this apply
to outdoors? It applies to outdoors and getting you outside
because one of the things I know that we need
to get you outside is to promise you a comfortable
seat for the show. Okay, a comfortable seat can be
(23:50):
a piece of furniture that has zero cushions on it, whatsoever,
no cushions, because what are cushions? Maintenance issues? What are cushions?
They are luxuries that you not only have to spend
more money for, but you also have to spend more
time taking care of because no, we should cover them up.
Oh it's going to be raining this week. Bring all
(24:11):
the cushions in, put them in the garage, Stack them
in the garage. Oh now we can bring them all out.
Oh they just got dirty because a bird just did
its thing, and so on and so forth. Again, nothing
against cushioned patio furniture, but the basic, the basic, the
bare minimum to get you comfortably outside, what you could
(24:33):
be looking for is something that is simply the right
chair and the right chare set in the right configuration
with the right ergonomics. Could be a chair, and probably
is a chair that has zero cushion whatsoever. Just a
(24:54):
chair that can sit out there in the rain, in
the sleet, in the snow, in the heat, and be
ready for you at a moment's notice, and that you
did not break the bank to buy. Are those chairs
out there? Yes they are.
Speaker 3 (25:08):
You're listening to Home with Dean Sharp on demand from
KFI AM six forty.
Speaker 1 (25:16):
Welcome home. We're going to be going to the phones
right after the next news break, so just know that
the number to reach me eight three to three to
ask Dean. I take calls randomly, and we've got quite
a few calls on the board. But there's still room
for you if you're thinking about it. Eight three three
two ask Dean. Okay, we're breaking down the essentials of
(25:43):
spending the least amount of money to get you the
most amount of space, and that means not getting into
a major remodel or room edition or anything like that,
but taking advantage of the spaces that you've got. Yesterday
I talked about garages and utilizing them more. Today I'm
talking about outside and utilizing them more. Them it it more,
(26:06):
And no, this is not our only outdoor show. This
is a very special angle at approaching outdoors. During the spring,
I tend to talk a lot about outdoor living because
that's one of the things that we ramp up with.
You know, we're anxious to get out and break loose
of cabin fever, and so we will be doing more
(26:26):
outdoor living stuff in the weeks ahead, no doubt, before
we dive into other things. But this is a very
specific angle, and this is what is the least you
can get away with out there to make yourself really
comfy and really enjoy the show that's happening outside every day.
So we're not jumping to the gigantic spens, we're not
(26:50):
junk jumping into the ultimate luxuries. But I want you comfortable,
and we're answering this question as a theme today. What's
it going to take to get you out side and
right now seating a place to sit, okay, a comfortable
place to sit and to watch nature's show unfold before you.
(27:11):
Whether it's just staring up at the stars, whether it's
looking at the clouds passed by, whether it's just breathing
the fresh air, and you know what I mean, I
do it a lot. I'm an outdoorsy kind of a person.
I spend a lot of time outdoors. We have a small,
small home, a lill small by American standards. We live
in what we call a little cottage of a home.
(27:33):
It's about thirteen hundred square feet, and that's after we
added a lot to it. It started out as nine
hundred and forty square feet. But the reason we bought
this property is that we're sitting on just a little
under you know, a third of an acre, about a
third of an acre, So we got a lot of
space outside that little cottage, and life just would not
(27:54):
be the same here without the fact that we spend
so much time out in the yard and outside. I
like it. I prefer it in most cases. You know.
Even though our home is fresh and clean and the
air is clean and it's all lovely and beautiful, I
just none. Indoor air never compares to outside fresh air.
(28:15):
And I'm willing to put up with whatever little inconveniences
along the way, But to be honest with you, there
aren't many. Because we have from a very minimal perspective,
taken advantage of it, answered all these questions, well, what's
it going to take to get us outside? So we
were talking about seating, and I was giving you a
general principle that applies to everybody who's listening. I don't
(28:38):
care if you're just thinking about buying a new sofa
for your living room. The same principle applies. Always examined
the ergonomics of a piece of furniture before you commit
to it, because comfort and luxury is not simply about
big puffy cushions and soft and soft and soft and soft.
In fact, soft, just like an overly soft bed, can
(28:59):
lead you aching and feeling uncomfortable and not enjoying the experience.
And so my point is this, I know this as
an absolute fact, okay, that a properly designed hard surface
chair can be far more comfortable than a poorly or
(29:22):
thoughtlessly designed super puffy cushy thing. Okay, And it just
so happens that the best value in patio furniture comes
from the fact that if you don't have cushions that
have to be monitored, moved, protected, replaced, if you just
have a hard surface chair. So everything from that perfect
(29:45):
and by the way, I just interrupted my thought without
getting it out of my mouth. But that perfect rocking chair.
By the way, I am still in search of the
ultimate rocking chair for my deck because I love them
the movement, and a rocking chair is a great example
a well designed rocking chair you sit down in and
(30:07):
suddenly you realize, oh, oh yeah, that's great. Right. For
years I had a solid walnut banker's chair sitting in
our office that I would design out of, and still
to this day, Tina and I sit in two hard
wooden chairs in our office for hours at a time.
(30:28):
Why because they're beautifully designed, erbic, ergonomically, and they get
the job done and we do not get out of
them sore or anything like that. So again, this is
an encouragement to you. Okay, now, what do I have
sitting on my deck right now around our fire pit?
Always has been, always will be some really nice, nicely shaped,
(30:51):
rounded backed Adirondack chairs. Now, Adirondack chairs are not for everybody,
but they are a comfortable, reclined a piece of patio
furniture that we have never had a guest ever say
I just can't sit in those because I, you know,
and if somebody has like a lower back problem, they'll
just grab a small cushion and put it behind like
(31:13):
a little lumbar support for them. But the fact of
the matter is these are resin based chairs made out
of recycled materials. They're black, they they don't show dirt well,
they weather any weather whatsoever. We never worry about them.
This morning, when I came out, they were covered in dew.
I just grabbed a little towel and I just wiped
(31:34):
one off, the one that I was going to sit in,
and I turned on the fire pit and boom, I
was there a comfortable chair. I can sit in that
chair literally for hours. Okay, so what do you need.
What's it going to take to get you outside? A
comfortable chair, A sixty thousand dollars patio set? No, no, no,
(31:56):
just some comfortable chairs for you and a friend or
a small group of friends. That's all you need to do.
You need to know what it is you're really looking
for in order to make your dollar go the furthest
and it doesn't take much to come up with us.
I think these actually came from Costco, to be perfectly honest,
(32:17):
and they have held up really, really well, no end
date in sight for these things, all right, when we
come back, We're gonna pause this conversation a bit, and
I'm going to be going to the phones, and then
we will return and we will talk about the next
thing it takes to get you outside, and that, just
(32:38):
to show my hand a little bit is probably a
little bit of warmth and a little bit of shade, okay,
And how do we break those down into their minimums.
We will do it all when we return. You are
listening to Home with Dean Sharp, the House Whisper on KFI.
This has been Home with Dean Sharp, the House Whisper.
Tune into the live broadcast on KFI A six every
(33:00):
Saturday morning from six to eight Pacific time and every
Sunday morning from nine to noon Pacific time, or anytime
on demand on the iHeartRadio app
KFI AM six forty. You're listening to Dean Sharp The
House Whisper on demand on the iHeart Radio app. Hey,
welcome home. I'm Dean Sharp the House Whisper. I design
custom homes, build a few custom homes, and on the weekends,
I am your guide to better understanding that place where
(00:22):
you live. So glad that you are with us on
the program today. I will try not to disappoint today
on the show. I don't know if you've noticed, but
you know spring is Spring's already here in southern California.
I don't know what the weather is looking like exactly
where you may be across this great nation of ours.
(00:44):
I know there are some looking at the weather this morning,
there are some temperatures in the zero, in the tens,
and definitely in the single digits in places I know
for you, you're like, uh, yeah, no spring yet, Dean,
not yet. It's all right, It's all right, it's coming, right,
it is coming. We're only technically, what are we eighteen
(01:05):
nineteen days away from spring something like that? Just no, no, no,
I'm sorry, ten ten or eleven days away from spring.
That's where we're at anyway. Today on the show, we
are going to continue a theme that we started with
our previous episode that would be yesterday's broadcast, or if
(01:27):
you were one of our many podcast listeners, our previous
episode on the podcast. And it's a theme about where
to get the most space for the least amount of money.
And this is specifically geared toward a certain demographic in
our community, of which I belong to right now just
(01:48):
as much as so many of the rest of you.
And that is this. You know, you're you need a
little more space. Inflation has not left, funds are tight,
the stock market, investment portfolio is You're like, what what
does that mean? It's not looking as good as it
(02:11):
has been in the past, and funds are tight, but
so is the house, and so we're looking for a
little bit more elbow room. So I took it upon
myself this week to say, well, you know, there are
two somewhat I mean, they're not bizarre, but they're just
not the typical places we go to in our thinking.
(02:32):
Two places to get more space for the least amount
of money. One was where we went yesterday, which was
the garage. The garage is for most homeowners another four
hundred feet of flexible space that is often neglected and
not utilized fully. And here's another space today that we're
(02:53):
going to spend even more time on, and that is
very simply outside. Outside. There is space, literally all of
the space, everything that isn't inside your own skin and
the few odds and ends that you have within reach
of you in your little cubicle that you live in.
Everything else in the universe is outside, and that's where
(03:18):
there is unquestionably the most space. Yes, even if you
live in a condo and have just a very small patio,
they are still space to be reclaimed. The question is
do we want to go out there? Is it set
up for us to go out there? And is in
a condition or a design condition where we can enjoy outside?
(03:44):
Because if you can enjoy outside, then instantly we've got
more space without adding on, without hiring a contractor without
having to do all the things that we normally think
of doing in terms of getting more space. So today
we're gonna be talking about utilizing outdoors wherever we can
(04:05):
find it in order to, you know, give ourselves a
little bit of more elbow room for living, especially when
budgets are tight and they're just you know, we want
it we'd love to, we'd love to expanding, but not
gonna happen this year. So let's get creative, all right,
And we're going to and we're gonna ask the tough
questions too. We're gonna start off with asking maybe the
(04:28):
toughest question of all, but I'm gonna set that to
the side for a moment so that I can introduce
you to our awesome team. Elmer is on the board
as always. Good morning, Elmer. Oh, hey, good morning. I
missed you last week. I gotta tell you, yeah, I
(04:49):
miss you to day. Producer Michelle Cube is with us
this morning. She is screening call. Oh she's already busy
screening calls, which is the cue for me to tell
you that. And of course we're going to be taking
your calls today as well. And the phone lines are
open right now. And of course there is no somebody
apologized yesterday for calling in on something that was off topic.
(05:11):
There is no off topic when it comes to your calls.
Whenever I take calls, anything you want to discuss that's
got you scratching your head about your home, indoors, outdoors, landscape, hardscape, construction, design, DIY,
whatever the case may be fire it at me. I'm
going to help you out with it. The number to
reach me. The phone lines are open now and the
(05:33):
legendary Michelle Cube is standing by to take your call
and tell you everything you need to know and pop
you into the queue. The number to reach me eight
three three two. Ask Dean eight three three the numeral two,
ask Dean give me a call. You can listen to
the show while you wait, and who knows, we can
put our heads together and figure out what's going on
with your place. Eileen Gonzalez at the news desk, Good morning, Eileen,
(05:57):
Good morning. How is this time change treating you? You
know what? I actually intentionally slept in a little bit
more today and I woke up thinking I had slept
in longer than I had nice. I'm like, hey, I
got two extra hours. No, no, no, I didn't, I
got one. Yeah.
Speaker 2 (06:16):
I need an extra cup of coffee today or tea
because I I don't drink coffee.
Speaker 1 (06:21):
Well, what's the tea of choice for this morning? It's
green tea.
Speaker 2 (06:25):
I love tea.
Speaker 1 (06:27):
There you go, there you go. I love green tea.
You know what? I don't do well with his macha?
Oh I like that? Well, sorry, kids to offend. I'm
just saying. I'm just saying, there's just something a little
I don't know what it is. It's a I don't know,
I don't know. I'm going to try and figure it
(06:48):
out and we'll talk about it later. All right. Across
the table from me, my better half, my design partner,
and my best friend in all the world, tea of
course is.
Speaker 2 (07:03):
Well, excuse me, clear your throat without the mic on,
Oh my goodness, welcome home, Good to see you.
Speaker 1 (07:10):
Good to see you. It's gonna say good to be seen.
It sounds like you need some macha. You need a
little macha. I like macha because it's kind of earthy.
It is earthy. I had something about the powder that's
I don't know, I don't know. Maybe that's a good
word for it. It's a little too. I liked it.
We were we were at five oh seven yesterday. We
(07:31):
were talking to Amber when five oh seven is our
favorite local coffee hangout, and Amber, one of the owners,
was saying, I said, what is this drink?
Speaker 2 (07:40):
And she goes, well, it's basically dirt, and I go,
I can think I'll pass.
Speaker 1 (07:44):
I don't really want to.
Speaker 2 (07:45):
Drink you said, it's very healthy for you. It's earthy
and but like literally it is literally what.
Speaker 1 (07:51):
Was the name of that. I don't remember. I have
to look it up. All right, we'll figure it out anyway.
I'm just drinking coffee. Coffee comes from the coffee bean
and a little water, and that's all. And it works
for me. All right, y'all. When we come back, I'm
going to start today by asking you the most important
(08:11):
and maybe the hardest question when it comes to outdoor living.
You know what that is? Well, you hang tight.
Speaker 3 (08:21):
You're listening to Home with Dean Sharp on demand from
KFI AM six forty.
Speaker 1 (08:27):
Thanks for joining us on the program today. Glad you
are with us. We are talking about where to get
the most space for the least money, and today on
the program we are focusing on outside and right before
the break, I teased you with saying that I was
going to start this whole process by asking you an
(08:48):
important question I think, maybe the most important question when
it comes to outdoors and you are you ready for it?
Have you figured it out? Yeah? I'm gonna guess maybe not.
Because this is something that specifically, as designers, Tina and
I run into all the time. With folks, and it's
(09:10):
gonna make sense when I ask it, and you're asking
yourself the question, when is he going to get around asking?
Is he gonna just keep teasing us about it? No,
I'll do it in a minute or two. No, No,
I'm gonna do it right now here.
Speaker 3 (09:24):
It is.
Speaker 1 (09:27):
What will it take to get you outside?
Speaker 2 (09:32):
Oh?
Speaker 1 (09:33):
Think about that. We live in a very comfy, controlled world.
I mean, I know people who who swear up and down. Now,
this is a younger set of people, and I'm not
trying to stereotype the younger generation at all, but I'm
just saying I know people who literally have looked at
(09:54):
me with all honesty and sincerity in their face and say,
I'm not really an outside person. And I think, Wow,
by saying that, you realize, of course that you are.
And I know it doesn't seem this way to you,
but you are literally missing almost everything, almost everything. Now,
(10:18):
I just want you to consider the fact that it
doesn't matter whether you live in a cottage or a castle.
When I say this, because whether or not you've got
I don't know, two hundred square feet around you inside
your little space, or two thousand square feet in the
room that you happen to be standing in right now,
and my voice is echoing down through the chambers of
(10:42):
your estate. The fact of the matter is it ain't
that big compared to literally everything else in the universe.
Everything mostly is outside. And so the question becomes, as
we can continue to live our ever increasingly small lives,
(11:04):
and it doesn't seem that way because you know, those
little black screens that people are staring into right now
seem like they take you to all sorts of other
places and other things, But in reality, where you actually
are located, it's a pretty small, confined area. And so
I asked the question, what will it take to get
(11:26):
you outside? The amount of money that people spend to
stay insulated comfortable in controlled environments is egregious, egregious amounts
(11:47):
of money to stay that way. In fact, one of
the most common conversations about outside that I have with
a lot of clients are started by them saying, yeah,
we want to spend more time outs. We're thinking about
a California room, and I'm thinking, okay, well, and by
the way, I have nothing against a California room. And
if you don't know what a California room is, it's
(12:09):
basically a room addition onto your house with a lot
of glass in it. Okay, so a lot of glass,
and maybe some of those walls can open up, but
essentially it's a room with a full roof and heating
and air conditioning and a lot of it's a room
(12:30):
so in so many ways, and please again understand me,
I've got nothing against California rooms. They're beautiful if you
can afford them and have them and so on, but
they are not outside. The whole point of a California
room is that it's a hybrid of like almost outside.
(12:51):
We just spent seventy five thousand dollars to get almost outside,
a little get closered outside. I get it, I get it.
So one of the things you know today, we're not
talking to people who have the wherewithal to build a
California room. I'm talking to you and me. And you know,
(13:17):
budgets are tight, but the house is feeling a little tight.
And so one of those ways where we can loosen
things up and get a little bit more elbow space
is getting outside. But the biggest hurdle to doing that,
I would say, the only hurdle to doing that realistically
is somewhere up inside your cranium and answering this question,
(13:41):
what will it take to get you outside? Now? I
can see some of the answers formulating, well, I'm going
to have to be comfortable. Well, I agree with you
one hundred percent. To get you outside, we need to
be comfortable. I mean, there's no point in finding more
(14:03):
elbow space if if we're drowning in sweat, or we're
freezing cold, or we're wet, or we're just not, you know,
enjoying it. The point is enjoying the outside. And so
that's where we have to start breaking things down and
instead of jumping to all of the luxuries that get
(14:25):
pushed at you in all of the design magazines and
websites and everywhere you turn, like, oh, well, you know,
here are people who enjoy being outside because they've just
bought a sixty thousand dollars patio furniture set. Okay, well
that's not in the budget either, Dean, I get you.
I get you. So again, we're going to find the
(14:47):
key to this today by continuing to return to this
question what will it take to get us outside? It's
not just a big open ended question, No, I want
to answer it specifically, so that we can find, in
a minimalist but effective and efficient way, the ways to
get us from inside the house to outside the house
(15:10):
for as little cash out of pocket as possible. If
that's of interest to you, then don't go anywhere, because
that's where we're headed. We're gonna do it right after.
Speaker 3 (15:23):
You're listening to Home with Dean Sharp on demand from
KFI AM six.
Speaker 1 (15:28):
Forty Dean Sharp the House whisper with you like I
am live every Saturday morning from six to eight and
Sundays from nine to noon. Are you running ahead or
behind today because of daylight savings? Probably not. You know,
we don't really have that conversation much anymore now that
(15:48):
phones and electronic clocks just automatically change. Right. There was
that time. I remember when we used to have to
reset the sundial in the mornings. It is weird. It
is weird to feel older, right, And You're like, you
(16:08):
had to go. I mean, we still have some regular
clocks in the house, but not the ones that we
depend on to wake us up and to get us moving, right.
So Tina and I were like, where what clocks have
to be reset today? Oh? Just go room to room
and look around see if there's a clock in there,
that's a stupid clock. Anyway, I hope you are enjoying
(16:29):
your Sunday morning as much as we are, and we are.
We're talking about finding space without paying big bucks to
get it, and today specifically outdoors outdoors, And I've already
sprung the most important question on you. Yes, you can
count on Dean to ask a somewhat philosophical question, or
(16:50):
at least it sounds philosophical to start off the whole
design process. And you know why, by the way, it's
not just because that's just the way I rune. It isn't.
It isn't just that. Okay, not at least from my perspective,
it isn't. It's because you know, the reason we ask
the big questions here on Home, a show that's about home,
(17:13):
is that home is the place where we live our lives.
And you know that has everything to do with I
happen to be a designer who believes that good custom
home design has everything to do with matching that space
to the way people actually live, and that means crawling
inside people's heads from time to time and figuring out
(17:35):
what's important to you. Now, I am not here today
to twist anybody's arm and convince you if you are
an inside dweller, oh, it's a lovely music for us.
I'm not here to convince you that you've got to
get outside. All I'm sitting here is saying is that
(17:56):
outside is where most everything is, and there are inexpensive
ways of getting out there. And the key to finding
those ways and which ones work for you is asking,
what sounds like this big philosophical question, what will it
take to get you outside? Okay, but there's really a
(18:19):
deep practical element to it. In fact, I would say
the entire root of it is truly practical. I love
that Eileen covered this story at the La Arboretum. Right,
the La Arboretum is not a place that you would think,
you know, there's a certain there's a certain kind of
(18:41):
person who goes to the arboretum. Sweetheart, perhaps this weekend
we will visit the Arboretum. Right, but but today, what's
happening at the arboretum barks and bruise. How do you
get more people to the arboretum? How do you get
a different crowd to the La? R read them, well,
(19:01):
bring your dog in. There's beer, and you know what
that's smart. It's just smart thinking, all right. You know, hey,
dogs and beer at the tree Place today. That's the
kind of thinking that I would like to apply to
outdoors for you. Okay, Now, I don't want you roughing it,
(19:25):
I really don't. But the difference between being comfortable and
spending gobs of money on luxuries that go way beyond
comfortable and nice, that's a massive, massive, massive difference, and
it starts in levels of practicality that quite honestly, you
(19:48):
would think as well. He designs customer state homes, he
doesn't think like that. Oh yeah, I do, because I
live in a very small home and we have a
very simple outdoors that we love very much. I also
spent a good deal of my life and still do,
enjoying what other people might call camping. I don't really camp.
(20:09):
I don't really camp. I backpack and mountaineer. And so
for me, the idea of getting outside and spending a
night out in the outdoors is throwing everything you need
on your back and getting miles and miles and miles
away from the nearest automobile or even any road. And
(20:33):
when you grow up in that mindset, you really think
about what do I need to bring with me to
be comfortable. And it's not a lot because it's got
to fit on your back, right, So that's the mindset.
I'm just I'm only saying this to reassure you that
where I want to go with all of these things
and you today is the simplest, most basic, and yet
(20:56):
completely comfortable way. So let's start with down. Sitting down
outside comes speaks to a fundamental truth about furniture. Okay,
and this is a truth that quite often we have
to Well, if you've ever listened to any one of
(21:18):
my furniture shows about the inside of a house, you
will hear me say again and again and again that
the ergonomics and the design of a piece of furniture
is so critical to the furniture experience. Unless you're just again,
you've just got gazillions of dollars and you're going to
(21:38):
furnish a room that you're never gonna sit in, then
who cares? Just whatever it's supposed to look like to you, Fine,
they're not going to sit in it anyway. But so
many people get led astray when they end up going
furniture shopping because they're thinking, oh, we're looking for the thickest,
cushiest cushions. We're looking for the pillowiest pillows, right, because
(21:59):
soft equals comfortable, until, of course, you've sat in a
piece of furniture that has a really spongy, super soft
seat and a really spongy back for more than maybe
ten minutes, and you realize, wow, this thing is I
just find myself kind of shifting around because it's sort
of swallowing me up and it's actually not comfortable. It's
(22:21):
not the right depth of seat cushion for me. My
knees are sticking out too far or they're not sticking
out far enough. The back is too low, the back
is too high, the angle is weird, and so yeah,
when we're buying furniture, as a general rule, we always
always want to sit in that furniture for an extended
(22:44):
period of time in order to verify and as a
general rule, and this is really where it gets critical.
As a general rule, the firmer a piece of furniture,
the longer you will be able to sit in it comfortably.
I kid you not. I want you to think about
a car seat, and not a car seat for a child,
(23:06):
but a seat in an automobile. Okay, These are not
renowned for being super soft and cushy. Okay, they are
ergonomically well designed with just enough cushion in just the
right places, right right exactly. Okay, not big, overblown, puffy seats,
(23:28):
but well designed seats. And so how does this apply
to outdoors? It applies to outdoors and getting you outside
because one of the things I know that we need
to get you outside is to promise you a comfortable
seat for the show. Okay, a comfortable seat can be
(23:50):
a piece of furniture that has zero cushions on it, whatsoever,
no cushions, because what are cushions? Maintenance issues? What are cushions?
They are luxuries that you not only have to spend
more money for, but you also have to spend more
time taking care of because no, we should cover them up.
Oh it's going to be raining this week. Bring all
(24:11):
the cushions in, put them in the garage, Stack them
in the garage. Oh now we can bring them all out.
Oh they just got dirty because a bird just did
its thing, and so on and so forth. Again, nothing
against cushioned patio furniture, but the basic, the basic, the
bare minimum to get you comfortably outside, what you could
(24:33):
be looking for is something that is simply the right
chair and the right chare set in the right configuration
with the right ergonomics. Could be a chair, and probably
is a chair that has zero cushion whatsoever. Just a
(24:54):
chair that can sit out there in the rain, in
the sleet, in the snow, in the heat, and be
ready for you at a moment's notice, and that you
did not break the bank to buy. Are those chairs
out there? Yes they are.
Speaker 3 (25:08):
You're listening to Home with Dean Sharp on demand from
KFI AM six forty.
Speaker 1 (25:16):
Welcome home. We're going to be going to the phones
right after the next news break, so just know that
the number to reach me eight three to three to
ask Dean. I take calls randomly, and we've got quite
a few calls on the board. But there's still room
for you if you're thinking about it. Eight three three
two ask Dean. Okay, we're breaking down the essentials of
(25:43):
spending the least amount of money to get you the
most amount of space, and that means not getting into
a major remodel or room edition or anything like that,
but taking advantage of the spaces that you've got. Yesterday
I talked about garages and utilizing them more. Today I'm
talking about outside and utilizing them more. Them it it more,
(26:06):
And no, this is not our only outdoor show. This
is a very special angle at approaching outdoors. During the spring,
I tend to talk a lot about outdoor living because
that's one of the things that we ramp up with.
You know, we're anxious to get out and break loose
of cabin fever, and so we will be doing more
(26:26):
outdoor living stuff in the weeks ahead, no doubt, before
we dive into other things. But this is a very
specific angle, and this is what is the least you
can get away with out there to make yourself really
comfy and really enjoy the show that's happening outside every day.
So we're not jumping to the gigantic spens, we're not
(26:50):
junk jumping into the ultimate luxuries. But I want you comfortable,
and we're answering this question as a theme today. What's
it going to take to get you out side and
right now seating a place to sit, okay, a comfortable
place to sit and to watch nature's show unfold before you.
(27:11):
Whether it's just staring up at the stars, whether it's
looking at the clouds passed by, whether it's just breathing
the fresh air, and you know what I mean, I
do it a lot. I'm an outdoorsy kind of a person.
I spend a lot of time outdoors. We have a small,
small home, a lill small by American standards. We live
in what we call a little cottage of a home.
(27:33):
It's about thirteen hundred square feet, and that's after we
added a lot to it. It started out as nine
hundred and forty square feet. But the reason we bought
this property is that we're sitting on just a little
under you know, a third of an acre, about a
third of an acre, So we got a lot of
space outside that little cottage, and life just would not
(27:54):
be the same here without the fact that we spend
so much time out in the yard and outside. I
like it. I prefer it in most cases. You know.
Even though our home is fresh and clean and the
air is clean and it's all lovely and beautiful, I
just none. Indoor air never compares to outside fresh air.
(28:15):
And I'm willing to put up with whatever little inconveniences
along the way, But to be honest with you, there
aren't many. Because we have from a very minimal perspective,
taken advantage of it, answered all these questions, well, what's
it going to take to get us outside? So we
were talking about seating, and I was giving you a
general principle that applies to everybody who's listening. I don't
(28:38):
care if you're just thinking about buying a new sofa
for your living room. The same principle applies. Always examined
the ergonomics of a piece of furniture before you commit
to it, because comfort and luxury is not simply about
big puffy cushions and soft and soft and soft and soft.
In fact, soft, just like an overly soft bed, can
(28:59):
lead you aching and feeling uncomfortable and not enjoying the experience.
And so my point is this, I know this as
an absolute fact, okay, that a properly designed hard surface
chair can be far more comfortable than a poorly or
(29:22):
thoughtlessly designed super puffy cushy thing. Okay, And it just
so happens that the best value in patio furniture comes
from the fact that if you don't have cushions that
have to be monitored, moved, protected, replaced, if you just
have a hard surface chair. So everything from that perfect
(29:45):
and by the way, I just interrupted my thought without
getting it out of my mouth. But that perfect rocking chair.
By the way, I am still in search of the
ultimate rocking chair for my deck because I love them
the movement, and a rocking chair is a great example
a well designed rocking chair you sit down in and
(30:07):
suddenly you realize, oh, oh yeah, that's great. Right. For
years I had a solid walnut banker's chair sitting in
our office that I would design out of, and still
to this day, Tina and I sit in two hard
wooden chairs in our office for hours at a time.
(30:28):
Why because they're beautifully designed, erbic, ergonomically, and they get
the job done and we do not get out of
them sore or anything like that. So again, this is
an encouragement to you. Okay, now, what do I have
sitting on my deck right now around our fire pit?
Always has been, always will be some really nice, nicely shaped,
(30:51):
rounded backed Adirondack chairs. Now, Adirondack chairs are not for everybody,
but they are a comfortable, reclined a piece of patio
furniture that we have never had a guest ever say
I just can't sit in those because I, you know,
and if somebody has like a lower back problem, they'll
just grab a small cushion and put it behind like
(31:13):
a little lumbar support for them. But the fact of
the matter is these are resin based chairs made out
of recycled materials. They're black, they they don't show dirt well,
they weather any weather whatsoever. We never worry about them.
This morning, when I came out, they were covered in dew.
I just grabbed a little towel and I just wiped
(31:34):
one off, the one that I was going to sit in,
and I turned on the fire pit and boom, I
was there a comfortable chair. I can sit in that
chair literally for hours. Okay, so what do you need.
What's it going to take to get you outside? A
comfortable chair, A sixty thousand dollars patio set? No, no, no,
(31:56):
just some comfortable chairs for you and a friend or
a small group of friends. That's all you need to do.
You need to know what it is you're really looking
for in order to make your dollar go the furthest
and it doesn't take much to come up with us.
I think these actually came from Costco, to be perfectly honest,
(32:17):
and they have held up really, really well, no end
date in sight for these things, all right, when we
come back, We're gonna pause this conversation a bit, and
I'm going to be going to the phones, and then
we will return and we will talk about the next
thing it takes to get you outside, and that, just
(32:38):
to show my hand a little bit is probably a
little bit of warmth and a little bit of shade, okay,
And how do we break those down into their minimums.
We will do it all when we return. You are
listening to Home with Dean Sharp, the House Whisper on KFI.
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