Anyone who’s ever purchased a house (or spent any time watching HGTV) knows that house hunting is a master class in compromise. Generally, you start out with a list of must-haves and like-to-haves, endure some repeated soul crushing, and eventually come out living somewhere with at least a slight resemblance to what you’d imagined. When we decided to move to Los Angeles, I had dreams of living in an updated Spanish bungalow with a salt water pool, a guest house, and a view.

Enter the LA real estate market. After looking at more houses than I ever imagined, we eventually came to terms with the realities of our budget and our tolerances for commute length and renovation needs, and decided that a contemporary, arts-district, townhouse would be just fine, thank you. No bungalow, no pool, no guest house…but we got the view.

Luckily, our urban, small-lot house came with not one, but two outdoor spaces—a long, thin balcony on the second floor, and a rooftop patio on the fourth story. The patio featured my coveted mountain view, and I immediately knew I wanted to spend as much time as humanly possible there. The space had to become a functional outdoor room.

More than that, it had to be an oasis in the city. The kind of mindfulness and slow living I wanted to practice meant carving out a refuge from the real pressures of a fast-paced urban lifestyle, and finding ways to connect with nature without having to drive to beach or park.

It wasn’t super-inspiring to start—sort of a featureless gray box with an air conditioner and water heater in one corner.

The bulk of the transformation involved moving in furniture we already had. We’d purchased the loveseat, club chairs, and fire pit only a year before and, thank goodness, they fit! The rug, made from 100% recycled plastic, was originally purchased to cover the floor of my market booth. With no more shows on the horizon, it provided some welcome vibrant color to balance out all the gray.

While the furniture and rug are weather-proof, California’s Mediterranean climate made it easy to add soft accents. It rarely rains in the summer, so the pillows and blankets don’t have to be hauled in and out often before wintertime. We keep a big basket of extra blankets on hand for bundling up on chilly evenings, and I matched a shade umbrella (similar) to the linen background of the pillows for hot days.

To up the functionality of the space, we purchased an upright smoker, which is used to cook dinner at least once a week. I intentionally didn’t set up the space as a dining room, but we often cover up the fire pit and use it as a table to lay out casual meals.

And then there are the plants. We had to give away all our houseplants before moving, so we started from scratch to create a patio garden that could withstand the blazing rooftop sun. I wanted to feel like I was definitely in California, so we started with three potted citrus trees and a palm. Since then, I’ve been filling in with herbs and succulents and a hibiscus to screen the unsightly appliances. I’ve been enjoying taking my time, learning to care for each new addition before acquiring the next, so the plant collection will remain a work in progress for a while.

The end result is, without a doubt, my favorite “room” in the house. It’s where I go first thing in the morning to drink my coffee, where I sit to meditate, and where I work when the weather cooperates. It really is a rooftop oasis, just as I was hoping.

Creating an Urban Rooftop Oasis

Four Mindful Reasons to Get a Plant

Mid-Year Joy Report