A living room with a glass wall slid fully open to a covered terrace, an interior by Apel Design

Interior Design · Indoor/Outdoor Spaces

Indoor/outdoor rooms, designed from the inside out.

Apel Design designs indoor/outdoor living spaces for homes in Malibu, Los Angeles and across Southern California: living rooms, kitchens and suites that open fully to terraces, loggias and courtyards through glass walls, continuous floors and considered shade.

The idea

A threshold is the most important line in the plan.

When a glass wall slides away, the room loses its fourth side, and everything that side used to do has to happen some other way. Enclosure comes from the ceiling plane, the floor and the placement of furniture. Shelter comes from an overhang deep enough to cut the midday sun. We design an indoor/outdoor room so that it still reads as a room with every panel of glass pulled back.

The line itself deserves the most care. A flush track lets one floor run from the sofa to the terrace edge, and matching the indoor and outdoor surfaces in tone makes the two read as a single plane. The view is then framed on purpose: which wall stays solid, where a corner dissolves, how the ceiling carries out past the glass. Closed again, the same room has to feel warm, quiet and complete on a winter evening.

Knowledge + experience

What an open room asks of its design.

Six decisions settle whether a room opens gracefully or simply loses a wall.

Sliding glass walls

Panel counts, stacking pockets and corner openings planned so the glass disappears when open and the frames stay slim when closed.

Pivot doors

Oversized pivoting doors in timber or glass, proportioned and balanced so an entry or a garden wall swings open with one hand.

Continuous floors

Flush thresholds and matched indoor and outdoor surfaces, so one floor runs unbroken from the living room to the terrace edge.

Shade and overhangs

Roof overhangs, beams, louvers and drapery set to temper sun and glare without ever closing down the view.

Loggias as rooms

Covered terraces furnished and lit as true living and dining rooms, with ceilings and lighting that carry the interior outside.

Framing the view

Openings placed and proportioned around what each site offers, whether ocean, canyon, garden or a quiet private courtyard.

Selected work

Where the room meets the terrace.

Living rooms, kitchens, dining rooms and suites where the glass slides away and the room simply carries on outside.

A dining room whose glass walls stack open to a covered terrace and the ocean, an interior by Apel Design — **Dining room to covered terrace**Glass that stacks away

A timber dining table beside a wide opening onto a pale paved terrace and view, an interior by Apel Design — **Dining room at the open corner**The corner dissolves

A dining table beside black-framed glass doors slid open to a green garden, an interior by Apel Design — **Dining room to the garden**Black-framed sliders

A covered deck and linear fireplace beside an open glass corner to the dining room, an interior by Apel Design — **Corner opening with fireplace**Fire on the terrace side

A living room with pale sofas, open along one side to a terrace at sunset, an interior by Apel Design — **Living room at sunset**The view as the fourth wall

A kitchen under a wood ceiling, fully open to a lawn and a shaded table, an interior by Apel Design — **Kitchen open to the lawn**The kitchen as a threshold

A bedroom with its glass corner open to a terrace and a wide valley view, an interior by Apel Design — **Suite with an open corner**Drapery, not walls

A grey freestanding tub at a tall glass wall, with a terrace and bamboo beyond, an interior by Apel Design — **Bath beside the terrace**Privacy from planting

A sitting room with tall black-framed French doors open to a balcony and treetops, an interior by Apel Design — **Sitting room with French doors**A classic opening

Tall timber pivot doors opening to a living room, reached by a path across water, an interior by Apel Design — **Pivot doors over water**Arrival as a threshold

A covered loggia with open dark beams over a timber deck, at Merritt Estate in Malibu, by Apel Design — **Merritt Estate**Malibu

A great room whose glass wall slides open to a covered terrace and a garden wall of hexagonal planters, at La Jolla North in West Hollywood, by Apel Design — **La Jolla North**West Hollywood

A living room opening to the pool terrace beside an open stair, at Surfside in Malibu, by Apel Design, shown as a design visualization — **Surfside**Malibu

The path

How an open room is designed.

Site

We study sun, wind, privacy and view across the site before a single opening is drawn.

Openings

Glass walls, pivots and overhangs are placed and sized in plan and section, with every threshold detail resolved.

Furnishing

Interior and terrace furniture, lighting and fabric are chosen as one scheme that holds up to sun and salt air.

Review

The studio reviews shop drawings, samples and installed work so each threshold matches the design intent.

Design-Build interiors

Designed by Apel Design, built through Design-Build.

Rooms from The Aviator, Maliview and Mintcello, where the studio carried its own design through Design-Build, with construction by Creative New Dimensions Inc, in conjunction with Apel Design for Design-Build.

A balcony under a red overhang, facing green hills and the ocean, at The Aviator in Malibu, by Apel Design — **The Aviator**Malibu

A round window above a wide opening to hills and the ocean, at The Aviator in Malibu, by Apel Design — **The Aviator**Malibu

Glass slid open between a sunset balcony and a textured interior wall, at The Aviator in Malibu, by Apel Design — **The Aviator**Malibu

A furnished terrace beside a stone wall, facing the hills, at Maliview in the Malibu Mountains, by Apel Design — **Maliview**Malibu Mountains

A stone-walled walk passing a wide opening into a lounge, at Maliview in the Malibu Mountains, by Apel Design — **Maliview**Malibu Mountains

Timber loungers on a stone terrace, open to the kitchen, at Maliview in the Malibu Mountains, by Apel Design — **Maliview**Malibu Mountains

White French doors open to an iron-railed balcony and a mountain view, at Mintcello in Malibu, by Apel Design — **Mintcello**Malibu

Questions

Useful clarity before the first conversation.

Which glass wall system suits an indoor/outdoor room?

It depends on the width of the opening and where the panels can go. Pocketing systems hide the glass entirely inside the wall, stacking systems park the panels at one end, and corner systems remove the post so two walls open at once. We choose by view, wind exposure and how often the room will actually be opened.

Can the floor run level from inside to outside?

Often, yes. A flush or recessed track, a drained channel just outside the glass and a stone or porcelain made in matching interior and exterior finishes let one plane continue through the opening. Where weather exposure is high, we drop the terrace a small step and keep the materials matched, so the eye still reads a single floor.

Where do pools, gardens and outdoor kitchens fit in?

This page covers the rooms that open to them: the thresholds, the shade and the furnishings that make a terrace feel lived in. The pools, planting and outdoor structures themselves are covered on our Pools + Outdoor Living page, and the two are designed together so the view from the sofa and the view from the water agree.

Can Apel Design stay involved through construction?

Yes. Apel Design can lead an interior from the first sketch to the final placement, whether the house is delivered through our Design-Build practice or built by a contractor of the client's choosing, with the studio overseeing the interior work. On Design-Build projects, construction is by Creative New Dimensions Inc, in conjunction with Apel Design for Design-Build.

Let’s shape the experience: from room to object.

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