Being in nature makes you feel better emotionally. It helps you handle stress and contributes to your physical well-being. Even a tiny but well-designed outdoor living space where you can relax and connect with nature can change your life. This article will show how to create a stylish, dynamic, relaxing environment that evokes peace and serenity. This is the ultimate guide to creating your backyard oasis.
Think About How You Use the Space
Outdoor living spaces are very versatile. There are infinite layouts depending on the activities you enjoy and the space size available. The starting point to creating an ideal and functional outdoor space is understanding how you will use it.
If you want to have breakfast outdoors, you will need a table and chairs. If you want to meditate, take care of your plants, or enjoy the sunlight while drinking coffee in the morning, a hanging or comfortable chair with a side table will be nice. Knowing how you want to use outdoor spaces will allow you to define what you need, such as the type of furniture, its quantity, and its distribution. Make a list of the furniture you will need for those activities and measure your space to purchase the optimal furniture for your lifestyle and space conditions. If the area receives a lot of sun or gets wet easily, opting for high-resistance furniture is a must.
Define the Style
Having an idea of what you need, you are ready to set up the style and vibe of your outdoor space to create a cohesive look. You must have a motif, concept, or thing that you like and use it as a starting point to bring your outdoor space to life. For example, if your plants are tropical, leafy, and deep green, you can create a colorful, tropical theme using natural and rustic materials, tropical patterns, tactile textures, vibrant colors, and so on.
If you have cacti, you can paint the space white to create a more elegant and drier environment. Or, if you have bamboo trees, you can go for a Japanese theme to evoke the Zen vibe. You should feel that you are in a magical place. Even there, contrast your exterior with the interior to create something different in which you can change environments instantly. Make sure to develop common threads to create a soft transition between both areas.
Define the Color Palette
When it comes to setting the color palette of outdoor living spaces, we can be more daring and fun. A helpful tip is to use the color that dominates your interior on the exterior. Remember that consistency connects different areas, so you can expand your palette and make it more striking and daring. For a vibrant outdoor space, you can go with a contrasting foam palette. You can use pink, yellow, tear, or orange to contrast with the green of the plants. You can use a lot of colors or just a few accent tones.
If you want a more relaxed atmosphere, combine cool colors like blue, green, and teal. On the other hand, if you want a more elegant style in which you want to highlight nature, you can create a monochromatic color scheme where warm neutrals, white, and black dominate the space. Most people like these colors because they are the perfect background for natural colors, shapes, and other rustic materials like wood, concrete, and stone. If you have a bald statement piece outdoors or plants with flowers, you can pick your palette from pink colors.
Add Natural Materials
The key to having an outdoor space is to connect with nature. Use natural materials such as wood, rattan, bamboo, cotton, clay, stone, or other local objects rather than synthetic materials. They are friendly to the environment and make the space feel much warmer. Also, they look very well combined with other textures, such as brick and concrete.
Light Up the Space!
Something essential to consider is illuminating your balcony, terrace, or garden. It doesn’t matter if it’s small. It will make it look gorgeous at night, even from your interior. You can go simple, illuminating a green wall or some plants. Or go for something more fun, like a light extension on the ceiling. The atmosphere instantly becomes very romantic and cozy. Avoiding cool lighting temperatures is essential to consider when lighting outdoor spaces. Neutral or warm lighting is ideal for creating a magical outdoor space. Also, play with different lighting points, be creative, combine floor lights, vintage bulb extensions to the ceiling, hang lanterns from the tree or gazebos, and so on.
Making the light blend with the beauty of nature creates interesting patterns of light and shadow that emphasize the organic shapes.
Related: Demystifying Lights: A Guide to Color, Size, and Placement
Use What You Have!
It’s essential to consider the things you already have at home and be creative with them. The exteriors are very versatile. You can combine old and new things. For example, you can reuse an old wooden ladder to put your plants on different levels. You can use baskets, pots, benches, old frames, birdhouses, or any other item you think will bring life to the outdoors.
Get Relaxed with Sounds
Including relaxing sounds outdoors is a way to encourage calm. Sound vibrations can relax the mind and body. You could have a wind chime, a fountain, or something decorative element that uses the movement of water to generate sound. That makes the energy flow and helps connect even more with nature by using other senses.
Be Creative with Your Plants
Another essential point to consider is to think outside the box when positioning your plants. Not all of them should be on the floor. You can create a vertical garden or hang them at different levels. There are excellent ideas, especially when we talk about small balconies where we must consider freeing up the floor for furniture. Also, mix and match different plants. If you have tall plants, complement them with plants that grow horizontally. Also, consider the textures and tons of each one and how they relate to each other.
You can even have vegetables and fruits in your garden or balcony. Having a vegetable garden at home that you can take care of helps you clear your mind, relax, and feel connected to nature. You may consider growing tomatoes, peppers, beans, or herbs. First, evaluate your spaces’ natural light before choosing what to plant and position them in a way that looks organized and is part of your outdoor décor.
