Many homeowners value having an outdoor space. This is because of an increasing appreciation of the outdoors and its vast possibilities for leisurely activities. Today, many people want their gardens to function as spaces for entertaining guests and for relaxation.

The trend in residential landscape design has shifted towards making “outdoor living rooms” with hallways and vistas framed by trees or tall and horizontal plant material. It’s about creating spaces for everyday living.

When thinking of your garden as part of your home, it’s important to establish a fluid connection and transition between the indoor and outdoor settings. Loggias and pavilions are used to organize outdoor rooms into zones. They provide the intimacy and privacy of being indoors while still maintaining the feel of the outdoor setting. They are perfect stages for entertaining or for quiet sitting rooms.

When organizing your outdoor space into a series of rooms, though, it is crucial not to lose complete sense of it being a garden. After all, one of the things people enjoy most about the outdoors is nature itself, and incorporating paths lined with trees or lush planting beds will help to maintain that traditional notion of a garden.

Screens, which had made their debut indoors as creative room piders or concealers of unsightly messes, are also a good way in which a garden can be vertically enclosed. They are particularly useful in smaller urban gardens for privacy from next-door neighbours or in condominium terraces as wind barriers.

People are investing more in high-end furniture. In this way, the concept of the garden as an outdoor living room can be achieved by incorporating elegant large sofas and dining tables into the furnishing. The selection of outdoor furniture is akin to indoor furniture, and it’s definitely not just about lounge chairs anymore.
This new outlook also extends to the garden’s lighting design. Much like at home, it’s all about creating the right mood and accenting certain parts of your garden.

When designing your garden, whether for entertaining or as a space for relaxation, it’s important to approach it with passion and to think of it in the same way that you think of designing your home. Gardens offer an added space for living, so take advantage of it and make it look and feel welcoming.