![a chair sitting in front of water: When it comes to creating a great outdoor room, think of your garden as a whole new space to decorate. Design aficionado Melissa Penfold offers her top 13 tips for designing the perfect outdoor area.](https://www.msn.com/{"default":{"load":"default","w":"27","h":"22","src":"//img-s-msn-com.akamaized.net/tenant/amp/entityid/BB19NUZ8.img?h=225&w=270&m=6&q=60&o=f&l=f"}})
When it comes to creating a great outdoor room, think of your garden as a whole new space to decorate.
Design it as you would the living room, with lighting, rugs, comfortable seating and places to put drinks. Keep it simple but make sure that the furniture is in proportion and matched to the space.
Suitability is everything.
Walls aren’t necessary for creating an open-air living room. All you need is a covered outdoor space – a place where you can relax, doze, daydream, cook, eat or entertain. Here are some of the best ways to bring the creature comforts of your indoor living spaces to the great outdoors.
A garden without a pergola is like a room without a rug. Square outdoor areas call for vertical interest to break up the landscape and inspire new seating and planting patterns around it. Go for a simple pergola silhouette using rustic timber poles.
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Photographer: Kristina Soljo | Stylist: Steve Cordony
A built-in banquet will allow more people to be seated in a small area. Not only do they look streamlined, but can act as outdoor storage too.
Incorporate your garden into the living space to increase your home’s liveable square meterage. Maximise indoor-outdoor flow by increasing the width of door openings.
For harmony, use the same tones, colours and textures to create a theme. So, if you use a bronze finish on furniture, don’t go for copper lighting.
Gallery: 10 contemporary kitchens to inspire your next update (belle)
David Flack used a palette of “materials that age well and look better over time” including black steel, grey render and natural stone in this modernist mansion. The layering of polished plaster render, dark American oak joinery and Cosmic Gold granite in the kitchen creates a moment of indulgence without the need for over-the-top ornamentation.
Art deco elegance defines this kitchen within a glamorously restored 1930s apartment in Sydney’s eastern suburbs. Curved cruise-ship lines inform details such as the rounded corners of the kitchen island.
Designer Anna Trefely of Esoteriko took inspiration from the owner’s minimal and elegant fashion sense when designing their modern home. The custom island in Blue Crystal marble, which imparts “a shimmering quality”, is the hero of the large kitchen.
Designer Fiona Lynch embraced a tonal palette in this oasis-like apartment that was inspired by the silvered green hues of the landscape. Ice green-figured marble from Signorino gives presence to the kitchen island, holding the room like an abstract artwork. Balanced with the luxurious restraint of finishes, including polished plaster and walnut, the interior is an understated composition of subtle, tactile surfaces.
The heritage features of this renovated Victorian terrace have been retained and are juxtaposed against the contemporary mood of the new extension with its waxed, grey-polished concrete walls that help to bounce light around. The kitchen is sleek and simple with countertops in DuPont Corian in Glacier White.
Ultra-luxe bespoke finishes characterise this newly built Bondi Beach apartment with interiors by designer Bianca Fraser of The Unlisted Collective that enshrine contemporary sophistication. “High-quality materials were used, with Arabescato marble for benchtops and terrazzo flooring continued throughout the kitchen, walk-in pantry and adjacent living spaces. Golden accents were introduced through overhead joinery, hardware and shadowlines to the curved island and door hardware.”
While a certain drama unfolds in this crisply defined black and white kitchen, it plays out as a harmonious whole thanks to the skilled direction of designer Carole Whiting. “The client briefed us to design a clean and modern kitchen with a fresh palette.”
Echoing the greens of the exterior landscape, this striking kitchen glows in a rich, dark combination of Corsi & Nicolai Verde Rameggiato marble on the island bench and glossy joinery finished in Resene ‘Celtic’.
Set in a transitional space between the entry and open-plan living zones of a grand home, this kitchen called for graceful curves and an ethereal palette, which Lynne Bradley delivered with aplomb. “The use of luxury materials, sculptural forms, newly released ovens, beautiful lighting and ample storage punctuated with brass hardware combines to create a uniquely designed kitchen tailored perfectly to the owners and their home.”
The minimalist ambience conceived by Travis Walton thoroughly updates this galley-style kitchen in a Victorian terrace with beautiful materials and modernist classics. “We applied a fresh approach to this refurbishment to maximise space and create an understated luxury. Minimalist detailing gives greater breathing space, mediating the character of the old with the restraint of the new.”
10/10 SLIDES
Now, put it together and mix incongruous elements in the little touches: hurricane shades, the right cushions and a pretty tablecloth will give your outdoors the personal stamp – the first thing people notice.
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Photographer: Anson Smart | Design: Greg Natale
It’s hard to go wrong with a wharf light or lantern that will complement all facades.
Terracotta pots with topiary will add instant structure to your balcony, patio or terrace.
Grow climbers on trellises against a wall. To anchor the house plant a low row of hardy trees against a terrace wall. But don’t let shrubs grow over the windows; you’re the boss, not the bushes.
The ultimate luxury is a house that erases the barriers between outdoors and in. Roll-away doors disappear into the background so that your home and the garden are connected seamlessly. Bliss!
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Photographer: Dave Wheeler | Stylist: Steve Cordony
A one-colour palette creates a serene backdrop and plays up textures in the garden. A dash of black creates instant contrast, calls attention to the garden’s green contours and makes everything else pop.
Shop around for inspired designs in all-weather rattan, bamboo, timber and metal that would look at home anywhere in the world.
Installing fire pit, or fireplace, is a lure because it creates warmth and light. It scores extra points because of the hypnotic quality of flame and crackling wood.
Balance, such as a row of shrubs, is visually soothing. Plants in rows against a wall of the house make outdoor spaces feel deliberate and restful.
![a house with trees in the background: Photographer: Kristina Soljo | Stylist: Steve Cordony](https://www.msn.com/{"default":{"load":"default","w":"28","h":"40","src":"//img-s-msn-com.akamaized.net/tenant/amp/entityid/BB19NZpi.img?h=400&w=277&m=6&q=60&o=f&l=f"}})
![a dining room table: Photographer: Anson Smart | Design: Greg Natale](https://www.msn.com/{"default":{"load":"default","w":"30","h":"40","src":"//img-s-msn-com.akamaized.net/tenant/amp/entityid/BB19NUZi.img?h=400&w=300&m=6&q=60&o=f&l=f"}})
![a living room in front of a building: Photographer: Dave Wheeler | Stylist: Steve Cordony](https://www.msn.com/{"default":{"load":"default","w":"31","h":"40","src":"//img-s-msn-com.akamaized.net/tenant/amp/entityid/BB19O1OX.img?h=400&w=310&m=6&q=60&o=f&l=f"}})