HGTV shares some tips on how to transform a small patio into a relaxing retreat. With the right furniture and accessories, even the smallest patio can become an inviting, private escape. Try these ideas to transform your underused patio into a secluded oasis for lounging and entreating.

1.Create layers of comfort: Dress your patio from top to bottom to make even the smallest space feel like an inviting retreat. Add lushness with layered outdoor rugs, throw pillows, greenery and string lights.

2. Hang curtains: Hanging curtains is an inexpensive and easy way to create a temporary wall — perfect for renters and anyone else whose neighbors are a bit too close for comfort. Flowing, gauzy fabric softens this patio while adding privacy.

3. Make a Statement With Lighting: Good lighting will not only help you enjoy your patio after the sun goes down but will also draw your eye vertically — important in a small space. This rattan pendant light makes a statement and shines a glow on the conversation area. Make sure to use outdoor cords and light bulbs

4. Boost Privacy: Creating a sense of enclosure in your outdoor room will make it feel like a secluded oasis. Use privacy screen to block a bad view or nosey neighbors. Upcycle some old shutters and a few hinges into a folding partition.

5.Wheel out a bar cart: If you don’t have room for an outdoor kitchen, a bar cart can be just as useful. You can easily roll it from indoors to outside, keeping your drinks and appetizers within arm’s reach.

Welcome to 680 Westwood Drive | Birmingham

This stately 4 bedroom, 4.2 bathroom Birmingham home welcomes you. Dramatic two story foyer invites you to the living room with hardwood floors that leads to three French doors ushering you out to a private deck and yard. The spacious floor plan is ideal for entertaining and active families. Additional features include 9′ ceilings, hardwood flooring throughout most of the entry level, dual staircase, center Island granite kitchen, 1st floor laundry, stunning wood paneled library, princess porch off master and much more. The master suite includes a magnificent marble master bathroom. The remaining bedrooms have en suite or Jack & Jill bathrooms. The beautifully finished 1,500 square foot lower level has a home theater, full bar, exercise room and play room. Walk to Quarton Elementary School.

For more information, contact The Newville Team.

Jason H. McKevitt Realtor (248) 644-3500

Gary & Ellen Newville Realtors (248) 320-2487

In a recent House Beautiful article, a newly-built gem in Michigan is featured due to its scullery-inspired kitchen. This East Grand Rapids home is for the true chef and has no-nonsense accents, like overscale Circa Lighting brass pendants and acres of simple white subway tiles (with charcoal grout to hide grease stains!). The result: a kitchen as good-looking as it is hard-working.

If you are interested in creating your very own professional grade kitchen, here are the 7 ingredients the experts at House Beautiful suggest you really focus on…

1. Organization
   Create a place for everything. To improve workflow, position flatware drawers next to the dishwashers, spice drawers beside the range and cutting boards in a divided drawer within the island.

2. Surfaces
   Deploying the luxe material strategically, use a walnut island with a 2 ½ inch-thick slab of Calacatta marble‚ then used heat-resistant, tough-wearing Hastia quartzite for the perimeter counters. A natural stone quarried just like marble, quartzite is “almost immortal.”

3. Sinks
   Never to match everything because it can get boring. When it came to selecting the kitchen’s sinks, consider a traditional English farmhouse double-bowl style from Rohl and a French-influenced hammered-metal prep sink from Waterworks.

4. Proportions
   Create a work area that’s scaled for meal prep, without the need to run laps. Bringing everything in closer is not only cozier, it also makes cooking, cleaning and grocery unpacking a lot less aerobic.

5. Cabinets
   To break up what could have quickly become a monotonous wall of solid white cabinets, Zaveloff commissioned a British company to craft wire-mesh door inserts overlaid with a metal diamond pattern. Unlike transparent glass doors that show everything (so shelves have to constantly be neat), the haziness of these custom inserts adds a little mystery to the contents of the cabinets.

6. Mood Lighting
   The clients went gaga for Waterworks’ utilitarian Watt sconces, which are modeled on telephone-pole insulator covers, but Zaveloff was unsure of where to mount them. Rather than nixing the fixtures, the designer had tiled columns constructed next to each window and installed the sconces there. At night, the family switches them on as a low-light alternative to the brighter overheads.

7. Fast Access
   A built-in stove-side niche puts everyday seasonings within arm’s reach, while a pot rack mounted above the La Cornue range keeps well-used copper cookware where the action is.