We had our first taste of 80F+ weather here in Minnesota this week and it’s got me thinking about our deck and indoor / outdoor living. When our kitchen finally gets finished I want the deck off the kitchen to feel like an extension of this room. Now I’m about as un-green-fingered as they come, so don’t expect any plant maintenance tips in this post! But I can tell you what I’ve found out about bringing the inside out through color and texture. (Translation note: a garden is a backyard in British English.)

Tip 1: Keep a similar color theme inside and out

I think this is where we’ve been going wrong. Our house is dark brown outside and we’ve been accessorizing with burnt orange as it added a pop of color and tied in really nicely with the brown. But nothing inside our house is orange so it just makes the outside feel very different to the inside.

Our new kitchen will be warm grays, whites and natural wood. So to tie in the deck to this room we need to accessorize with neutrals to make it flow. I absolutely love this London garden by Claire Mee.

The colors are beautifully neutral. She kept the paint on the wall neutral with Dulux Chalky Downs, and tied in the fabrics in a similar warm grey. Even the plants are neutral! Which is an important point to make. Don’t buy all your furniture and soft furnishings in your theme color then forget about planting colors (like I often do!) The plant colors should be part of the design, not just the flowers but the foliage too.

Tip 2: Don’t forget about plant color!

She used white and green flowering plants, such as hydrangeas and cyclamen, and plants with silvery foliage such as the olive trees in the back. She also used round buxus topiaries to add more green and also structure.

Tip 3: Use fabrics to make an outdoor room cozy

Texture can also play a big part in bringing the inside out and making a cohesive space. The fabrics Claire Mee used in this modern country garden design are natural in cotton and linen and work well for this style.

Usiing fabrics outdoors can also help make the space feel cozy and make it feel more like an outdoor room. Louise Jones’ garden below uses lots of soft furnishing and makes this space feel very welcoming.

Tip 4: Use other textures such as wicker

Claire Mee also used a lot of wicker, even the planters. I love these planters! They add so much texture and tie the warm grays into the design that little bit more.

You could tie in the wicker by using wicker chairs around your dining table like this design did.

I tried to take all these points into account when giving our balcony a make-over last year.

We were on a very tight budget so I actually reused plants out of the garden and planted them in some inexpensive resin wicker planters we bought from At Home. The loungers were from Wayfair for around $300. And the lanterns were from Pier 1.

I’m hoping to create a similar style on the lower deck this year. Using neutral colors, adding in some fabrics, and textures to create a cozy homely feel. Stay tuned for that one.

For now though, thanks for reading and I hope it was helpful. I’d love to see how you make your outdoor spaces feel more like home. Please share your tips and photos with me.

Jo @britflipper