When the weather starts heating up you’ll either be basking in the sun or cooling off in the shade and enjoying the beauty of your garden or patio…
But what if you haven’t yet created your dream garden?
How to glam up your garden for summer
Whether you are kicking back quietly or entertaining friends and family, here’s how you can quickly make your garden more inviting without completely re-landscaping your garden.
- Concentrate your ‘glammification’ efforts closest to the house for most impact
- Avoid adding expensive permanent fixtures until you have a design for the WHOLE garden
- Screen off the view of unsightly areas of the garden with trellising or planting in tubs
Bring the outside in
When setting the scene, it’s key to make your outdoor spaces as comfortable and livable as they are indoors.
So you might consider ditching the hard, upright table and chairs that might currently take centre stage and opt instead for a mix of generous seats with comfortable cushions and add some attractive plants and a stylish awning or parasol to finish off the scene.
If you have the space, a garden sofa or armchairs and coffee table can make great additions.
Make sure these are made of resistant materials to withstand the strongest of sunshine with its colour fading rays. These can also make great focal points if you choose something stylish.
Simple garden furniture makeover
To update your outdoor space without spending out on new furniture, soft fabrics such as colourful throws and pillows are an easy way to refresh the look – group them in threes and always remember to base your designs on a main colour plus an accent.
Bear in mind that it’s bright outside and your colour combinations can be more adventurous than indoors, so have fun with it!
Some of the best and brightest outdoor cushions I’ve come across are from Bridgeman. Their vibrant waterproof scatter cushions come in a great selection of colours. They are UV-resistant and can be left out all year round so you can even enjoy their colourful impact during winter months!
Upscale existing garden furniture
If you’ve had enough of dated garden furniture, chalk-painting is a lovely, cost-effective way to update it. Make sure the colour you choose complements the new cushions you might be choosing.
The beauty of chalk paint is you can apply it straight onto any surface without having to sand anything. The finish is, as you might expect, lusciously chalky for that vintage look. Choose from a range of colours, remembering to stick to light colours that reflect the heat. Finish off by gently rubbing in some wax (buy it with your chalk paint) or water-based transparent varnish for a more durable finish.
Here’s some more great garden furniture options
Beautify your borders
An obelisk is a great and stylish way to add height and interest to your borders. You can grow colourful climbers and even vegetables like runner beans up them.
There are many different sizes, shapes and styles to choose from. Agriframe has a nice range as do Greenfingers in the UK.
Utilise your vertical space with wall art
You can add interest to boring walls with anything from outside canvasses to metal and terracotta features.
Greenfingers has an extensive range of wall art – they offer everything from oxidised steel zebras to Silver Birch metal wall panels.
…..
Here’s some more Wall Art options
Keep cool
…under a beautiful gazebo. If you get one with side curtains, you can screen any areas of the garden you don’t want to look at.
A gazebo is also a great way to be in the garden and not be overlooked by nosy neighbours!
More gazebo options
Lighting – make your garden glow
For those lovely summer evenings when your guests stay on and time stands still, stock up on candles and lanterns to hang or place on tabletops to create ambience and keep the party going. You might also like to install some outdoor lighting fixtures to the house or spot light the trees or flowerbeds which can make stunning focal points at night.
Alternatively, bring a table-top lamp outside and place it on a side table for a homely feel that helps to bring the inside out.
More garden lighting options
An outdoor kitchen!
If you’re lucky enough to have covered porches and patios on your home and you love entertaining outdoors, you might like to take things a step further: No one likes to be inside doing all the cooking so why not fit an outdoor kitchen, complete with a snazzy built-in barbecue to make life easier during those long, lazy days of summer?
More great BBQ options
If you have any more ideas on making outdoor spaces beautiful, comfortable and practical, do let us know in the comment boxes below – we would love to hear from you!
And when you are ready to design your garden, make sure you
watch Rachel’s FREE web class first!
There are 3 web classes to choose from. Visit the Free-Classes page for more details.
