Five Key Considerations for Creating and Styling your Outdoor Spaces
Most of us love spending time outdoors, enjoying the relaxed and restorative atmosphere that these spaces bring. Thoughtfully planned, an outdoor area can extend the liveable footprint of your home and create a beautiful visual connection from inside to out. At Nicola Manning Design, we see luxury outdoor living in New Zealand as an opportunity to balance comfort, function, and style—whether you’re building new or renovating an existing space. From heating, shade, and weather protection through to furniture, dining areas, and even outdoor kitchens, every choice contributes to a seamless environment you can enjoy year-round.
Five ideas on creating, styling and furnishing your outdoor spaces:
1. Creating Shelter
To increase the usability of your outdoor space it is ideal to add protection from the wind and rain. Louvred roofs and wall panels provide great flexibly and usability to your space. Some options on the market will automatically close if they sense rain.
Add heating and you have a year round outdoor room to use. A fireplace and beautiful throw creates a cosy winter space. Infrared outdoor heaters are unobtrusive and very effective.
Other options include shades, awnings and blinds.
2. Creating Shade
As we all know, the sun in New Zealand is particularly fierce. It is important to provide effective and flexible shade options. A wide choice of umbrellas are available, ranging from enormous to small patio ones.
Traditional umbrellas in a stand work well and also the cantilevered options which can have their angle and position changed to chase the sun around and provide all day sun protection.
Other options include shade cloths, blinds and awnings.
3. Defining the area with a Rug
If you have a larger outdoor space with dining and sitting areas, you can use a rug to provide to define the sitting area and separate the different spaces.
The outdoor rugs available are many and varied. It is important to make sure that they are UV stable and made for using outside. Most of these can be hosed down for cleaning.
In a smaller outdoor space a rug can be used to frame the area
4. Adding the Right Furniture
Dining tables – the size and shape of these are critical and needs to be in proportion to the space you have. Too large and it will be difficult to move around the space and sit up and down. If it is too small the space will feel unfilled and too empty.
Dining chairs – timber, timber and upholstery, bench seat
Coffee tables and side tables – concrete, timber, metal, stone; round, rectangular or square
Occasional chairs – swivel, arm chair, hanging chair
Sofas – sectional corner ones, two or three seaters
Ottomans and stools – upholstered, timber, metal, stone
5. Adding colour and texture
The use of colour and texture is what adds the finishing touches to your outdoor space. Layer texture and colour through throws, cushions, fabrics and rugs. Texture is also provided by your hard surfaces, contrast stone with timber, or concrete and metal. Greenery and foliage adds texture and colour to your spaces too. Use containers, pots and plants to achieve the look you want.
Don’t hold back on colour and pattern with your accessories, these can easily be changed out for the season and when you feel like a change.
Enjoy your outdoor living spaces and enjoy adding colour and texture to them.
All images are from NM Design projects.
