Design Your Dream Outdoor Room

From a city terrace left unused through winter to a holiday-home veranda we cannot wait to return to, outdoor spaces are perfect for relaxing and spending time with loved ones. If you want to feel refreshed and make lasting memories this summer, explore these five popular decorating trends for turning terraces, balconies and verandas into outdoor rooms. These ideas will enhance both their appearance and their practicality.

Maximalist gardening, which brings together plants in different colours, textures, volumes and heights to create a visually rich, dynamic landscape, is another important part of this new approach to organic living. Instead of formal lawns and plants that need constant shaping, choose combinations of lower-maintenance native plants and varieties that attract pollinators. This reduces the need for continuous care and watering while encouraging biodiversity and a healthy ecosystem.

Creating sensory corridors and paths, even just a few steps long, is an effective way to make an outdoor space both relaxing and invigorating. Engaging sight, hearing, touch and smell, these areas stimulate the senses and encourage mindfulness. Turn the few metres between your terrace door and the main seating area into an immersive, soothing natural passage with bamboo wind chimes, old terracotta pots, a water feature and aromatic plants such as lavender.

One way to enhance the positive effects of regular exercise on mental and physical well-being is to take it outdoors. Include a small fitness corner when designing your outdoor space. There is no need to squeeze in everything or feel pressured to create a full gym. Depending on your preferred daily activities and the space available, it could simply be a small oasis for yoga and meditation.

Eating locally grown and produced food is a trend that will continue to gain popularity because of its benefits for both our health and the planet. One reflection of this is the growing desire to cultivate fruit, vegetables and herbs, whether indoors or outside. Even small spaces can produce food in raised beds or upcycled containers such as troughs and baths. Dwarf fruit trees suited to compact spaces can add to the variety of edible plants. This design approach welcomes nature into your outdoor areas, creating an attractive setting while supporting a healthier, more sustainable way of life.

Unlike terraces, holiday-home verandas are often accompanied by small front gardens. Creating welcoming entrances for loved ones and guests is an increasingly popular part of designing peaceful outdoor spaces that sustain nature's energy. Pay attention to stepping stones, garden gates, house numbers, walls, railings and lighting to establish a visual connection with your outdoor room from the entrance onwards. If your budget is limited, paint these areas in natural colours that reflect the country atmosphere of your veranda. Make the most of attractive paving and explore small LED lights with adjustable colours. Allow native, vigorous climbers to grow beyond walls and gates, while keeping their growth under control.

Not everyone has the space or budget for a professionally built swimming pool or pond. Yet it is possible to recreate something of the calming effect of a Japanese-inspired koi pond and small waterfall simply and affordably. A basic water pump, two small ceramic vessels and pebbles gathered from the beach can bring the soothing sound of running water and an attractive feature to your terrace or veranda. An old stone bathing basin, a few pieces of bamboo of different thicknesses and an aquarium pump can create a Japanese-inspired fountain. Even in the smallest spaces, a wide plant pot or old metal basin can become a miniature water-lily pond. Depending on your design preferences and space, make these water features part of a sensory path or give them their own role as focal points.