So far this year, and during these last few months of near worldwide quarantine, we’ve been focusing on home styling tips to create a calmer, less cluttered and more beautiful home environment. We wrote about home detoxing, making the most of storage, our favourite Hong Kong home decor brands (that deliver!) and making an impact with lighting.
Now, that the weather is warming up across the Northern Hemisphere, it’s time to move our attention outdoors.
This blog is all about outdoor styling and making the most of any outdoor space.
Outdoor spaces in Hong Kong are a luxury. If you are lucky enough to have a roof, balcony, back yard or even a garden, this blog should give you a few ideas to help you make the most of it. With a summer of Hong Kong staycations ahead, our outdoor spaces are going to be more important than ever.
Our Head of Projects Chen has done an incredible job with the outdoor space in her Hong Kong home and truly transformed it into somewhere her family spend a lot of time. Here are her top tips for making the most of your outdoor space.
Planning your Outdoor Styling Project
Treat your outdoor space like another room
This is the most important outdoor styling advice we can give. Your outdoor space should be a natural extension to your home so, of course, the advice we share for indoor styling is relevant to this area. This means that you should consider your concept words, your aesthetic and your colour scheme for inside your home and bring that outside too.
Which brings us to…
Do your research and define your concept
First up, have some fun on Pinterest and Instagram to find outdoor spaces that you love and ones you hate. You want to create a mood board of images and items that inspire you.
To create an outdoor mood board, you’ll also want to think about an outdoor colour scheme. Do you want a zen feeling of whites and greens or an energizing blaze of tropical colour?
You’ll also need to consider use/purpose. Your outdoor space needs to be stylish and functional, just like your home. Do you want to use your outdoor space to relax, to entertain, for the kids, or maybe even all 3?
Finally, draw a sketch of your area with dimensions and plan the layout. You don’t need to be a good artist to do this! As long as you include important dimensions and positions of doors etc, it will be useful for shopping.
Take a picture of your sketch and have this and your mood board handy on your phone so you can refer to it when out shopping or in a garden centre. A tape measure is useful too.
Find out more about mood boards and space planning with The Home Stylist to kickstart your outdoor styling project.
Shopping for your Outdoor Space
Plants
No outdoor space is complete without nature itself. There are a few important things to consider when choosing plants.
Firstly, are you planting in the ground or using pots? Different plants thrive in either space. Similarly, consider the amount of sun and shade in your outdoor space. Even balconies in Hong Kong can be open to sun and/or wind which some plants hate and some love.
Spend some time in Hong Kong’s many great garden centres and make the most of the knowledgable staff. Show them pictures of your space. Ask their advice.
It is very tempting to just buy something beautiful without knowing if it will thrive in your space.
Ask about pruning, watering and feeding. You don’t want to style a beautiful garden to only let it die. A little knowledge and TLC goes a long way.
And don’t forget how fun it is for all ages to get involved with the garden. Why not grow your own vegetables and herbs? Even a tiny area can yield a surprising amount. You can even think about a fruit tree in a pot if you have a sunny spot.
Pots
Choose pots carefully to match your concept. Don’t mix and match. There are so many different types of colour, shape and finish. Try stick to one style so the space feels cohesive and the plants themselves shine.
Outdoor Furniture and Accessories
Choosing outdoor furniture and accessories is as fun as choosing pieces for your interior space. There are so many online outlets and stores selling a huge variety of style and colour options. Also, keep a close eye on the second-hand stores and online sites as well as Hong Kong’s Facebook Marketplace. Whole garden sets are often sold at a fraction of new price and will look as good as new.
Outdoor Cushions
For outdoor cushions, we find most HK outdoor stores seem to have similar colour palettes so it’s a challenge to find anything other than a plain colour. For a similar price, why not have some custom cushions made up to add instant personality to your space? There are some stunning floral and patterned outdoor fabrics to choose from online. Even one or two custom cushions can make a huge difference in creating a unique and personal space you’ll love.
And, don’t forget walls, lighting and flooring!
You wouldn’t leave your walls bare in your home, so why do so outdoors? Decorate outside with mirrors and art. With art, try to stick with a nature theme or natural materials. We’ve seen a lot of Balinese wood carvings recently and love them.
Lighting is as important outside as it is inside. Use outdoor lighting to create atmosphere. Have a look for string lights, solar lanterns, candles in tea lights and hurricane lamps to create the perfect mood in your outdoor space once the sun sets.
There are very clever ways to transform even the ugliest of stone floors with outdoor rugs or inexpensive DIY decking tiles. With larger outdoor spaces or back yards, you have many options depending on budget and concept. From real or fake grass to tiling or gravel, outdoor floors needs planning too and will make a huge difference to the overall feeling of your outdoor space.
Finally, a note on the elements…
Humidity and sun can be outdoor space killers! Make sure you have shade in your outdoor space with a parasol or a sun sail. Consider investing in a wall fan or bring a standing fan outside to make sure you are still comfortable in your outdoor space in the hot summer months.
We absolutely love planning a garden or outdoor space and have plenty of experience with the varied kinds in Hong Kong, so give us a call if you want some THS outdoor styling guidance.
