Decorating in the garden
Now that it seems like the rainy days are behind us (fingers crossed…) a lot of people are turning their attention to the garden. My number 1 piece of advice when tackling your garden is to treat your garden like it’s a room in your house, and you can do this by:
Zoning the space
Filling it with things you love
Finishing it off with lighting
Zoning the space
Our garden is very small, but I still zoned the seating area with a rug and planters.
The first (and perhaps obvious) thing to do is to think about what you’re gong to be doing in the garden. Will you spend most your time out there entertaining? Relaxing? Sunbathing? Playing with the kids?
Think about what you’ll be doing the most in the garden, and put more of your budget and space into that. If you think you’ll spend most of your time sunbathing and relaxing then it makes sense to invest more space and money into comfy seating in the prime spot in your garden. Or, if you think you’ll mostly use the garden to entertain, then put more of your budget towards a dining area.
If your garden is big enough, you can zone the space visually using furniture, rugs, plants and pots.
Fill it with things you love
A mood board I created for the garden.
Just like a room in your home - your garden should make you smile! If you have green fingers; plant flowers in the colours that you love the most, or that you love the smell of.
When it comes to garden furniture and accessories, I highly recommend mood boarding. This is such a useful tool to communicate the overall style of a space, and to check that all it’s elements are cohesive.
There’s no reason you can’t bring some fun and personality to your garden, you can do this using:
Throws
Cushions
Outdoor rugs
Mirrors
Lanterns
When it comes to fence or wall colour; natural wood is lovely but don’t be afraid to experiment with colour. It’s your garden - if you like it, then go for it. It can always be painted over. Dark colours look great especially with foliage and festoon lighting against them. Speaking of lighting…
Lighting
Ambient, task and accent lighting in the form of festoon lights, a lantern and uplights.
If you’ll be socialising in the garden in the evening (who doesn’t love a drink in the garden?!) then lighting can make a huge difference to the vibe. Use a combination of the three types of interior lighting (ambient, task and accent) to maximise your garden design.
Ambient lighting; this is background light and a great way of bringing this in the garden is through festoon or string lights. You don’t need an electric socket; solar or battery powered festoon lighting can be hung across fences and let out a good amount of light.
Task lighting; this is lighting that you need to perform a task. Think candles (bonus if they’re citronella to ward away the bugs) or lanterns on your dining table. Or - a fire pit which acts as a light source, heat source and focal point.
Finally accent lighting; which is lighting designed to highlight an area. Think uplights to shine on your borders or paths, or your house.
If you’d like my help with your next project, inside or outside, check out my services and I’ll be happy to get involved.