For many in design, taking the interior design out-of-doors, through a door to a deck or a patio to a second kitchen and dining room, means a worthwhile extension of a home.
And that’s why interior designers are willing to take it outside, says designer Layton Campbell of JLayton Interiors, based in Charlotte, North Carolina. He also does design projects in Charleston, South Carolina; Nantucket, Massachusetts; and New York.
“It truly is an extension of our interiors, and, as designers, we want our vision to flow from inside to out with style, color and material,” says Campbell.
For his part, Campbell has been designing inside and out since he began his business in 2004.
“I enjoy creating outdoor spaces that allow an integration between man and nature,” he says.
Campbell has always been creative, having earned a bachelor of music in vocal performance at the University of North Carolina in Greensboro, then moved to New York City for a little bit more than a decade. While there, he studied interior design at the Parsons School of Design.
Those experiences inspired him to travel extensively all over the world and study design styles in places as diverse as Russia, Asia, Australia and the Middle East.
Outdoor designs don’t come without their challenges — and in the Southeast, those challenges are usually environmental.
“For our locale, the challenges involve pollen in the spring, bugs and mosquitoes in the summer and falling leaves in the autumn,” says Campbell.
In a relationship with a manufacturer, Campbell says he prefers to have as many customizable options as possible, coupled with durability and quality of materials.
“No one wants to get a call from a client that a piece is not holding up,” he says.
He says that in the years during and since Covid, the outdoor companies are creating more comfortable pieces with flexibility of usage and mix of materials.
“The manufacturers that I work with most frequently are those who provide reps that will come to my studio and continue to update the latest designs and bring in the most current fabrics and finishes,” says Campbell. “That way we have these tools at our fingertips.”
The best way for designers to learn more about outdoor products and materials is to go to trade shows and showrooms to experience the different lines themselves — and then contact sales reps for any further information that’s needed.
Any advice for interior designers who want to expand to outdoor?
“Let your creative ideas keep flowing to exteriors,” says Campbell. “The only thing I would advise is that you want to complement nature — whether it’s with hardscape or furniture. The minute you think you might be competing with Mother Nature is the moment you’ve lost that battle!”
