Enjoy Life

Interior design: Inspiration for outdoor spaces

Make your outside living area as inviting as the interior with some tips from Vicky Sanderson

The Easter weekend with its record temperatures truly kick-started outside fun for 2019's spring/summer seasons.

While children happily splashed in paddling pools, and barbecues were dusted off, your attention was most likely drawn to what needs to be done to spruce up your outside living area.

It goes without saying that weekly lawn mowing, pruning and weed maintenance can work wonders when it comes to the appearance of your garden and your home overall. 

However, if we're lucky enough to enjoy another summer like last year's, what are the best ways to make your outside space as inviting as your inside?

• Lick of paint: Most homes have fences or gates around some part of their exterior space, whether they be metal or wooden. Check the forecast and set aside a fine-weather weekend to focus on bringing them back to life. Sand down any flaking paint or debris and set to repainting- your fence and gates act as the frame to your garden so always give them annual care. I always think you wouldn't put a beautifu; painting or photograph in a broken chipped frame so consider your garden boundaries the same way.
• Hanging Baskets: Such a quick, cheap way to inject colour and beauty into your garden. Now that you have a beautiful fence to work with, adorn it with pops of bright blooms. Geraniums, trailing petunias and begonias, fuchsias and bizzie lizzies all work well in hanging baskets and thrive throughout summer- just make sure you keep them watered and dead-headed regularly to prolong displays.
• Planters and pots: When it comes to tubs and troughs, these easy-care potted gardens are ideal for prettying up patios and doorsteps. The added benefit is that you can mix up the containers you choose depending on the look you're going for, and your own tasted and preferences. For example, some may prefer wooden planters with trelli salongside linear wooden troughs and vertical ladder displays. Others may be drawn to rounded ceramic and terracotta pots and there are a host of metal character planters that you can have lots of fun with. When you fill them take a leaf out of Alan Titchmarch's book and opt got zonal and ivy-leaved pelargoniums, argyranthemum, verbena and scaevola for sunny spots in particular. 
• That seat's reserved...: Ensure you gave a place outside for an 'anytime' sit, whether for your morning coffee after you've got a few jobs ticked off your 'to-do' list or to enjoy a glass of wine in the evening sunshine. It's been proven that simply setting foot outside for ten minuted and taking in a few deep breaths of fresh air, can do wonders for your mental health, so invest in a comfy chair, a bistro table and have a warm blanket to hand in case there's a nip in the air.
• Light the way: A simple way of bringing a little magic to your outside areas is to add various light features. String solar lights around your fences and down tree trunks, hang LED lanterns from the side of your house and put citronella candles on tables and patio ledges. Line paths and borders with solar sticks to help define your garden and, if you have an outside dining area, adorn it with festoon lights for a memorable al-fresco gathering.
• Add a little warmth: It's pretty rare that the UK gets to enjoy balmy evenings where there's no need for a shawl come dusk. To ensure you don't have people shivering and eager to retreat indoors as soon as the sun lowers, buy an outside storage box and fill it with blankets ready to hand out when it gets chillier. If the purse strings can stretch, gas patio heaters can be a great investment for fans of the outside, but simple chimenea and fire pits make great cheaper alternatives. 

Most importantly, make sure your outside space reflects your personality and lifestyle- have a corner of proud garden gnomes if they make you smile, put up bunting, add quirky signs and enjoy your outside space as much as your inside. 

Scent of the month

Clarity by Wild Swan

Wild Swan;s Clarity Soy Wax Candle is a vegan product made with 100 percent pure essential oils, designed to soothe and help you embrace positivity and clarity. Lavender helps to combat anxiety, restlessness and insomnia; May Chang will lift your mood, mental fogginess and help with fatigue; and cedarwood is a natural antiseptic and relaxant.

Simply light the cotton wick and you will instantly feel the benefits of this beautiful scent, which fills a room and creates a calming atmosphere that lasts. 

Wild Swan is a British botanical wellbeing brand created by mother-daughter tem Jess, a Sheffield-based artist, and her mum Lesley. Each product has been handmade with love and carried encouragement to help you with day-to-day life. 

Burn time: Around 18 hours, £16 for 120m, from Wild Swan: (www.wildswan.online) 

Five of the best outdoor lighting accessories

1) Festoon Lights, Squirrel, five copper LEDs within ten bulbs: Garden Trading, £45 (www.gardentrading.co.uk)

2) Chrome Lantern, Small: Sue Ryder, £16.99 (https://shop.sueryder.org/)

3) Solar-Powered Pineapple String Lights, ten bulbs: M&S, £15 (www.marksandspencer.com)

4) Solar Vintage Style Bulb String Lights, seven bulbs: Cox & Cox, £30 (www.coxandcox.co.uk)

5) Lunar Faiary Light Lanterns, 20 bulbs: Lights4Fun, £12.99 (www.lights4fun.co.uk)

Find out more Pinterest: (www.pinterest.co.uk)

Other stories in Enjoy Life

Summer reads
Latest book reviews May 25
Latest DVD Reviews
April 2025 book reviews
Spring 2025 Book Reviews
Spring 2025 DVDs
March 2025 book reviews
Winter 2025 CDs
Winter books 2025
Winter DVD's
Great Christmas Music Ideas
Christmas books - gift ideas
Autumn Reads
Summer 2024 Books
Summer DVDs
Summer CDs
Latest book reviews
May DVD Reviews
May's book reviews
May's CD reviews
That English Riviera Touch
April's DVD reviews
April's book reviews
April's CD reviews
March's DVD review
March book reviews
March's CD reviews
February's DVDs
February's books
Winter books
January's DVD releases
Christmas book reviews
November DVD reviews
November's Music Reviews
November book reviews
October's DVD reviews
October's New CD releases
October's book reviews
September's DVD Reviews
DVD selection for August 2023
September's book reviews
Latest music reviews August 2023
August Round up
August Paperback Reviews
August hardback book reviews
July 2023 Roundup
Pick of the paperbacks July 2023
July 23 Hardback book reviews
July 2023 DVD releases
July 2023 CD reviews
Pick of the paperbacks June 2023
June DVDs
Hardback book reviews - June 2023
Simon Evans CD Reviews for June 2023
Tesco Summer indoors and out
Book reviews
May 2023 paperback book reviews
May 2023 Hardback book reviews
May's DVD Selection
May's CD selection
Round up of April 2023's book reviews
April 2023 paperback reviews
April 2023 Hardback book reviews
More March 2023 must-reads
March - Pick of the paperbacks
March hardback recommendations
Afternoon Tea
March 2023 - DVD releases
March 2023 Music
February 2023 Books Round up
Pick of the paperbacks - February 2023
Book reviews February 2023
DVD recommendations
February's music reviews
Freedom on two wheels
Make do and mend
Foray into the Fens
Christmas reads
Tasty, healthy recipes by Joanne Wood
Keeping fit and healthy with the Green goddess Part 2
Keeping fit and healthy with the Green goddess Part 1
Finger-licking Good! Tasty Chicken recipes
Beauty: Say 'Allo 'Allo to an alluring look
British Library: Palace of the printed word
Look good and feel great with CBD
Summer fun at Belvoir Castle
Finding Fitness Starts With Fashion
‘In Vogue’ Veg – Cavolo Nero Sales Grow by 14%
Eat Continental and live longer
A life-affirming book... about death
Get Sewing: Floral bespoke notebook cover
Find your family fortunes... for FREE!
Beauty: Get set for spring...
Spanish Recipes: Small is beautiful
The Vegan Revolution
Interior Design: Maximise your living space
Pets need a spring clean too
Visit Family Tree Live
MasterChef: Classic with a Twist
Get Sewing: Quilted pot-holder
Bob Dylan "Rock and Roll music wasn’t enough for me”
Plant Power Day: 7th March 2019
Interior Design: Less is more in minimalist home
A second chance at love
Interior Design: Great Gatsby Cabinet
The rise and rise of the birthday cake
Walking back to happiness
Baking With Veg
Totally Tina Tour
How to take care of your hair over-50
The nation's most popular cake recipes
Your views: Can you help?
Hail the grandparent aupairs
Beauty: Denise Welch "I love the shape I'm in at 60"
The Austerity Olympics
Healthy reasons to acquire a taste for olives
Grand Treats for Grandchildren
Declutter your home, and clear your mind
Scandi-style Mules for Swollen Feet
Beetroot and Walnut Cupcakes with Cream Cheese Frosting
In your garden: October
Dr Norman Croucher: The toughest summit of them all
Craft Corner: Sweet Easter Basket
Have your cake and eat your Easter egg too!
Interior Design: Moroccan inspired drawers
BR remembered... 70 years on
A gentleman's guide to spring fashion
Why antique jewellery is glittering
New Year, new beauty habits
Cliff Richard "I have a deeper faith now"
Do you remember? Oliver!
What we really look for in retirement living
Interior Design: Wedding bells on a budget
Counter culture: The revival of the board game
Jodie Whittaker: "Doctor Who is all about change"
85 year old Grandmother gains a PhD
Dame Eileen and a Crowning glory
Writing the story of you life
Why winter shouldn't stop you: don't wait until New Year
World' first 'wellness shed' stirs up mindfulness
Growing old is amazing
Don't miss out on the internet age
Prepare to feel ancient...
Hawks: Up close and personal
Studious retiree heads back to school
Garden Expert: Soaking up the sun
Emily Watson "I'ts such a gypsy life"
Here's to you Mrs Robinson
Brits Embracing 'Urban Birding'
Volunteering for Nature
The Secret to Younger Looking Eyes
Anti-ageing Options Part 2
Anti-ageing Options
End of the road for a pop icon
Reaching out to Dementia Sufferers: Sporting Memories Network
Are you ready for retirement?
Afternoon Tea Recipes
Surprisingly Good Wholegrain Recipes: Savoury
Staying safe in the Summer heat: Drowning prevention
Stardust Memories
Baking made easy
Cooking for one
The real cost of your wine