Styling the outdoor room

Imagine this: you've just completed the dream transformation of your garden, the lads you've been making copious mugs of tea for have all gone home and the new plants are bedding in nicely. All in all, everything's in line with the original vision that you shared with your garden designer. But is it missing a little 'je ne sais quoi'? Those finishing touches that will really make the garden feel like the outdoor room you envisioned. This is where garden styling comes in.

Styling your outdoor room works along the same principles as designing an interior room, only with the added element of the weather! However, even in that regard, outdoor products and technologies have moved on apace in recent years resulting in a growing range of weatherproof fixtures and fittings that allow us to enjoy our gardens all year round, whatever the weather. With so many products on offer, from firepits and outdoor rugs to standalone bars and bespoke planters, it can be hard to know where to start when curating all these garden elements. The main thing is to establish a theme or focal point around which everything else can harmonise. It could be a particular colour scheme picked up in the planting, a piece of garden statuary, or indeed the overall style of the garden itself (for example traditional cottage, tropical, Mediterranean, urban contemporary or Japanese) which naturally leads to selecting items that really work in the space.

The outdoor room is much like the open plan interior and the trend to 'broken plan' living applies equally, if not more so, to the exterior space. The garden will likely have different zones created for al fresco dining, a relaxing morning coffee, or late afternoon/evening lounging depending on your requirements. These areas will have been at the heart of the garden design plan so choosing furniture and finishing touches that echo their intended use is a really easy way to approach outdoor styling. By simply applying a few basic principles, you can have a garden that not only ticks the all the practical boxes, but also delivers an even better outdoor experience. If you're stuck for ideas, don't be afraid to enlist the help of your garden designer who is often able to help with the exterior decor by drawing on a wealth of trusted contacts and suppliers to suit your personal style and budget. .