Why keep all that luxury locked up inside?

We may look back on the summer of 2007 as the year the bed moved outdoors.

Weatherproof mattresses in hardy teak, metal or woven resin frames are landing this season at major retailers across the land, ready for snoozing al fresco. Called sun beds, daybeds or lounges, they are a new category of outdoor furniture sporting amenities such as mildew-resistant cushion covers and mosquito-netting canopies.

Besides the bedroom, all-weather furnishings for the formal dining room, home theater, wet bar and even the shower are now on the market. Can home office furniture be far behind?

There has been a sharp rise in the popularity of outdoor living space, according to a survey done last year by the American Institute of Architects, with two-thirds of architects reporting an increase in demand for outdoor kitchens, patios and decks. "Land costs have been rising so rapidly ... consumers want to invest more in their property," says Kermit Baker, the institute's chief economist

Trend forecasters have sexier theories. "There is a total celebration of nature going on," says Marian Salzman, executive vice president at J. Walter Thompson and co-author of "Next Now," a book on forces shaping our culture. "We are so worried the environment is a precarious place, we want to embrace nature whenever we can."

There is another compelling reason to move outside: "We already have so much stuff that they could not sell us anything more to put inside the house," Salzman says. "So where else can we go but outside the walls?"

Manufacturers are churning out all-weather versions of flat-screen TVs, pillows, recliners and billowing curtains impervious to showers.

Flip through one of the spring home catalogs to see the lineup of beds that don't have to be made, just hosed down. From Restoration Hardware, the Del Mar Daybed is a towering four-poster. Sears is offering a resin wicker Sahara Garden Oasis Daybed with drawers, all swathed in mosquito netting. Lowe's even has an old-fashioned glider that morphs into a twin bed.

And Cal Spas offers the Ultimate Outdoor Theater ($35,000 to $40,000), complete with a 63-inch high-definition LCD TV, cocktail center with blender, two fire pits and three recliners outfitted with cup holders to heat coffee or chill beer.