Better Homes and Gardens (Australia)
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3 Sometimes, the best
outdoor space is a retreat just for two. Borrow this idea and place a pair of classic 1920s-style cane chairs at the edge of a patio, and personalise them with your favourite cushions – here, in pink and green to match the garden. PS, lovin’ the foxgloves behind!
4 When it comes to quick outdoor styling tips, a gorgeous flowering plant, paired with an unusual planter, will do it every time. Borrow this cute idea and pop a pair of flowering fuchsias into woven bags, placed right by the front door.
5 A separate garden
building offers a deluxe version of the outdoor room, whether it’s a studio, conservatory or gazebo. If you’re planning to install one, ensure it’s easy to access – locating it on a deck linked to the house is ideal.
6 The best place to
showcase summer flowers is – everywhere! Even narrow spaces such as window ledges can be coloured up, by filling trough planters with potted colour such as these dwarf snapdragons.
Extend your interior decorating skills outdoors, to make your garden feel like a comfy living room
7 To zhoosh up drab corners of the garden, create eye-catching mini scenes – how cute is this tableau of galvanised metalware! Combine a watering can and bucket, filled with cut blooms, with a wash tub reinvented as a float bowl. These gorgeous blooms are asters, but use whatever flowers you have.
8 If your space is small,
you can still create a little summertime magic. On a sunny balcony, paint cafe furniture bright pink, fill pots with petunias and marigolds and hang tealight holders – sweet! ➤
Enjoy your summer garden every day – not just when you’re entertaining friends
9 Outdoor tables with builtin planters usually feature vegies and herbs, but you can sprinkle in flowers as well. They’re a DIY option – look for designs online.
10 Get creative and try a welcome like this near your front door – tin numerals, little candles in bowls and bunches of cut foliage.
11 You can improve any
outdoor area by adding a water feature. This pouring urn is a classic design, with the plumbing cleverly hidden by a cluster of pots.
12 If you’re handy with a saw and drill, ditch the conventional outdoor setting options and knock up a pair of rustic armchairs made from timber pallets.
13 Transform a courtyard
wall into something amazing, using an oversized mirror partnered with tall black cube pots and matching troughs. Black and gold foliage plants add a sense of drama.
Light candles, fill water bowls and pot up blooms – your summer haven is ready for action!
14 It’s not all about the front garden. Your productive patch can be given a mini-makeover, too, by potting up flowering herbs such as chives and sitting your favourite summer vegies in rustic tubs and boxes, ready for picking! ➤
15 Ladders make lovely plant stands especially in compact spaces. Prop against a wall or fence and stack with as many pots of blooms as you can in different sizes and shapes. You’re going for abundance, so forget about matching. Here, yellow daylilies surround the base of a wooden stepladder with pots of petunias and geraniums.
16 A floral centrepiece is easier than you think. Arrange flowers and herbs along a table runner – repetition is key. And, while you’re at it, secure cutlery rolled in napkins with a sprig of something green and, if you can manage it, aromatic.
17 No garden? No worries!
Find a corner, in a courtyard or even on a balcony, and green it up! Fill glazed pots big and small with strappy plants such as agapanthus, tuck woven furniture in amongst them and prepare to relax! Simple blinds screen out the sun and neighbours both.
18 Quirky planters double as outdoor decorations, like these strawberry-filled colanders. You can buy powder-coated colanders in a range of colours or get out the spray paint and transform bare metal. Join them with coloured twine, hang from a hook and tell your guests to pick their own!
19 Pretty up any space with mophead hydrangeas. Team pots and hanging baskets to create a charming scene on outdoor tables. But stick to pergolas or verandahs, as they don’t like afternoon sun.
Dress your outdoor table with fresh foliage and seasonal blooms