(Family Features) Creating a perfect outdoor oasis requires careful planning for the entire space. While the arrival of spring is the perfect time to start thinking about landscape elements, don’t overlook the details that truly bring an outdoor space to life. Whether you’re looking to create a family-friendly space for entertaining, a serene poolside retreat or a secret garden that showcases your green thumb, have a clear idea of how you’d like your finished space will look and feel.
Though tastes and trends may change from one season to the next, selecting the right furniture pieces from the start will let you bring fresh new looks to your outdoor space in other ways. Sectional seating is an attractive option because it allows you to redefine your space in minutes. Hosting a party? Strategically placed sectional seating can open up your space and encourage an evening of mingling. Prefer a more intimate arrangement for poolside conversations or a date-night in? The sectional can be rearranged into a closer configuration.
To round out your furniture, consider the highly functional but often underrated garden stool. Place one in a quiet corner for meditative moments, pair them to create a one-of-a-kind coffee table, or pull one up when you need an extra seat. As an added bonus, when cooler weather returns, you can pull your garden stool indoors for a sweet reminder of summer.
Investing in the right pieces will save you time and money in the long run. When you’re ready for a new look, you can easily change the feel of your patio with accessories or a new brightly colored accent piece, such as a tiled bistro table or outdoor Papasan chair.
Once your furniture is in place, you’ve got a blank slate to play with and most importantly, to accessorize! Accessorizing is where the decorating happens and your personal style shines through.
Add pillows, cushions, umbrellas, outdoor rugs and even outdoor curtains to your space, and what started as a dull patio will begin to transform into an extension of your home. To mix patterns like a pro, choose pillows and rugs in the same color family, vary the scale of your patterns and introduce textures to ensure that they don’t compete with each other.
Be sure to layer in treasures that are uniquely you — lanterns, wall decor, statues and wind chimes — to establish a space bursting with personality.
Remember, small changes can make a big impact. Refresh last year’s patterns with the new trends, or simply add a few new accessories into your existing decor for a budget-friendly way to satisfy your urge to update.
Source: Pier 1
Reprinted with permission from RISMedia. ©2015. All rights reserved.
