Chicago Tribune House Hunter Column.

Byline: Genevieve Buck

Mar. 17--CHICAGO -- It was probably inevitable that the word "fusion" would become part of the vocabulary of residential architecture.

Fusion, of course, is already a mainstream way of describing cuisines that blend the flavors, ingredients and techniques of diverse cultures. And, fusion's long been at home in the world of music, especially improvisational jazz mixed with rock or funk.

Now, some architects are referring to their mixes of certain types or periods in one home as a fusion of styles -- a mixture of "Georgia farmhouse" with "Bahamian resort," for example. But there's a different type of fusion evolving, within the home, though it hasn't yet been dubbed a trend: It's simply a marriage of the outdoors with the inside of a house.

One of the more daring ways it showed up during the recent International Builders Show in Atlanta was via the show houses' "outdoor rooms," handsomely furnished and decorated outdoor spaces, often without benefit of windows, that share a wall or walls with the house.

That mood of blending inside and outside also came through during the four-day show's exhibits and seminars via a new emphasis on sun rooms, screened porches, more and bigger windows and patios and decks with roofs.

Other trends turned up at the builders show, which attracted some 70,000 developers, builders, architects, manufacturers and assorted housing industry experts.

Among them: wired houses, and other technology for the home -- very strong; storage, from built-in systems…