With these items, why go indoors?

The family living room is growing larger and many are moving beyond the walls into the great outdoors. Living space has extended to patios and backyards and opened up a whole new venue for home furnishings, accessories and home entertainment.

The move outdoors has created entirely new product categories and expanded others that were once just a small part of outdoor living. “Over the past five years, there’s been a big push in creating outdoor rooms on patios and backyards,” said George Whalin, president of Retail Management Consultants. “And almost all of them include some kind of cooking component.”

That’s evident by sales of outdoor grills, which rose 15% in 2006, and the popularity of outdoor heaters and fire pits that have extended the outdoor living season and the options open to homeowners. One of the largest growth areas is outdoor furniture, where name-brand suppliers are rolling out new lines designed to handle wind and rain.

La-Z-Boy recently debuted a new line of outdoor furniture at Sam’s Club that features a mix of standard outdoor product and pieces usually associated with high-end living rooms. They include the Outdoor Whitley lounge chair and Whitley recliner with deep cushions, all-weather fabric and a rustproof aluminum frame. The most elaborate piece is a “conversation” set with a full-size sofa, two lounge chairs, two ottomans and a coffee table.

Another furniture specialist, Levitz, has a whole new collection of outdoor furniture with wicker frames crafted from resin-based material. One of its most popular lines is the Barbados Collection, a five-piece seating set with four cushioned seats and a square wicker table.

And since living rooms are expanding, it makes sense that kitchens are going with them. “We’re seeing a lot of manufacturers coming out with coolers and refrigerators that are made for outdoor use,” said Mark Delaney, an analyst with The NPD Group. “It was an almost non-existent category a few years ago and now it’s a big part of the business and growing.”

Franklin Chef has several different outdoor freezer and refrigerator models including the 4.8-cubic-foot outdoor refrigerator for $849. The stainless steel fridge has wheels for ease of movement and three adjustable shelves inside. The company also offers a refrigerated outdoor beverage cart with two flip-top doors and three hanging food baskets and a 44-pound Ice Machine that can store frozen food and up to 25 pounds of ice.

While the outdoor living trend has opened up new avenues for suppliers, Whalin says the market is being driven more by consumer demand than imaginative manufacturers. “If you went into a store 10 years ago and asked for a small refrigerator that you could use outdoors, they would have looked at you like you were nuts,” said Whalin. “This business was created by customers who decided they want to spend more time outdoors and told retailers and manufacturers what they wanted.”

Another outdoor living area that was almost non-existent just a few years ago is the outdoor entertainment center. Suppliers like Sima and Brookstone have inflatable outdoor theater screens that are up to 8 feet wide and work with nearly any projector. They come with an air pump that can inflate the screen in just four minutes and two weatherproof speakers. And they’re reasonably affordable, with some priced under $800.

For someone with more money to spend, there are big-screen outdoor LCD TVs with weather-resistant screens and frames. SunBrite introduced a 46-inch model this month it says can function in below-zero temperatures but comes with a $5,000 price tag. Global Outdoor Concepts has its MirageVision outdoor line of flat-panel LCD TVs with screens up to 42 inches wide that can handle all kinds of weather.