Whether your home benefits from a
garden, a patio or a combination of grass and decking, finding ways of turning your outside space into an extension of your home is all about the way you use the space and the way you choose to decorate it in line with your home styling and your outdoor requirements. From
garden furniture to
bird baths,
decorative lighting,
cushions and pieces of abstract
art, we tend to find that buyers and members use their gardens as an add-on to the rest of their home, with one of the most common questions we get asked revolving around the best way to ensure a harmonious continuity between the interior of the home and the garden itself. The best place to start is with
furniture.
Garden furniture as décor
Like it or not, anything you put in the garden is considered
décor – and that means furniture as well as
accessories and
lighting. The best way to choose the right style of garden furniture for you is to look at your home and its style, and then look at the garden – and decide what kind of material will unite the two. We tend to find that owners of modern homes like to keep their gardens well-manicured and neutral in terms of decorative accessories and features, so plain white pieces, glass structures and natural woods are particularly popular – and really elevate the outdoor space with a little extra life. Meanwhile, a more rustic family home may find that the best and most constructive material for their furniture is painted metal – providing that imperfect finish which matches their family life and is practical as well as aesthetically attractive.
Garden decorative lighting
Once the furniture is sorted, we move on to lighting – and this is where the choices you can make can really make your garden stand out. The power of lighting in your garden can transform a nice evening into one full of romance and magic – with everything from
fairy lights to patio heater lights adding to the ambience and ensuring that the garden is accessible in terms of people being able to see where they are going, without removing any of the atmosphere. Decorative lighting is particularly effective when spread out across the garden rather than concentrated in one area. So we recommend choosing your lighting solutions wisely in line with how you use the space - for example using hanging solar
lanterns around a seating area, but then decorating the rest of the garden beyond with sporadically placed
solar lights in the ground and
string lights hung between trees.
Other decorations
Everything else you use as garden décor is there to add personality and life to your own slice of nature – from intricately designed cushions to ornate bird baths, additional accessories such as an
outdoor bar or
drinks area, a lounge area with a fire pit or large BBQ feature, and other things like tree charms and wind chimes. In short, all of these examples of decoration in the garden allow you to breathe your own style into the outdoor space – and can either act as a continuation on your styling inside the home, or can move completely away from it in a move which embraces radical juxtaposition and values the beauty of contrast. Our favourite garden decorative accessories can be found across all manner of garden centres and home and garden decorative stores, as well as craft stores which encourage you to invest time in making and decorating your own pieces.