Floors Blur the Line Between Inside and Out

As long as I live, I will never forget the first time I experienced the total blurring of the line between indoor and outdoor space. I was vacationing in Puerto Vallarta, Mexico. When I walked in to this amazing condo, I could see that the whole back wall was open to the outside. As I walked forward, the side walls stopped, and the roof stopped, but the floor just kept going — no threshold, no barrier, no back wall. Next thing I knew, I was on a high terrace overlooking the ocean. Pure magic!

I can tell you that being in this space gave me a feeling of total freedom. I wanted to be barefoot 24/7. In fact, the inside-outside thing was so blurred that I caught myself looking around once in awhile just to check whether I was in or out at the moment. The only way I could really tell was by looking straight up to see if I was under the roof.

Alas, back here in the Pacific Northwest, the buildings seem to all have walls all the way around. And I generally am pretty clear on whether I am inside or outside at any given moment — generally. People often talk about merging the inside with the outside to visually expand their space, and maybe capture a bit of that feeling of freedom. I never forgot the lesson of the floor that just kept on going.

I hope you enjoy these spaces that use their flooring and outside ground covers to successfully minimize the transition point from inside to outside.