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The outdoor season is upon us.
Only one thing beats lounging around at home, stretching out on the sofa and feasting on fine food and wine – and that’s doing all those same things, but outdoors. Nothing cleanses the soul like a summer evening spent lazing on cosy garden furniture, and we’re personally counting down the days until our summer night’s dream becomes a reality.
As the days and nights edge ever warmer, we can already smell the freshly cut grass, sweet summer blossoms, and barbecue banquets filling the air. So, in the solar-powered spirit of the outdoor season, we’re bringing our top tips on how to get your outdoor sofa summer-ready.
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If you’re starting from scratch with curating your outdoor space, it’s a great opportunity to get the measuring tape out and make sure of your scale. The most important thing is that your outdoor sofa (and any other furnishings) fits well and looks the part in your space. If you’re working with a smaller space, consider smaller seating options, like sun loungers or compact bistro sets. Measure the space you’re working with, and compare it with the dimensions of the furniture. You’ll need extra space for yourself and your guests to move around comfortably, so don’t forget to factor this into your measurements.
Bigger areas tend to have the opposite problem, and garden furniture can end up looking lost or dwarfed in the space. If you’re lucky enough to have a large garden, patio or deck, setting up more than one zone of furniture can work wonders. Combine an outdoor sofa with a bistro set, or sun loungers with a side table – the bigger the space, the more options you have.
Two of the most important (and fun) parts of arranging your outdoor sofa are settling on a colour scheme and design style. The possibilities are endless, and just like your outdoor space – there’s no ceiling on the number of style routes you can go down.
Keep it sleek and contemporary with a low angular sofa and lots of clean-cut lines, or embrace Scandi simplicity with a chorus of curved edges and minimalist off-white tones. Whether you prefer the crowd-pleasing elegance of a well-balanced neutral scheme, or a boho blast of colours and shapes that’ll get your guests talking – our outdoor living range is your ideal one-stop shop.
In interior design, ‘texture’ refers to the surface quality of a material – how it feels, looks and makes us feel. Just like colours can make a space feel warm or cool, sophisticated or laid back, the different textures you bring to your decor can completely transform how it feels.
Whether you want your outdoor sofa to be a self-soothing sanctuary of snugly fleece and fuzzy fabrics, or you’d rather unleash the villa vibes with an outdoor cushion collection, we’ve got everything you need to give your space the perfect textural tune-up.
Life is all about balance, and it’s a philosophy that’s especially useful when we think about interior design. Choosing our favourite cushions or throws for an outdoor sofa is easy, but pulling them together into a cohesive, satisfying arrangement? That’s where things can get tricky.
The good news is that it’s not exactly rocket science. There’s no universal law to interior design, and the most important thing is that you end up feeling at home in your space. However, if you’re struggling to get your outdoor sofa looking its well-balanced best – there are a few helpful guidelines you can use to get the ball rolling.
The first thing to settle on is what style of cushion arrangement you want to go for. If you want to keep things minimalist and smart, we’ve got a great selection of plain outdoor cushions that’ll pad out your sofa without making too much noise. Pick your favourite muted colour in the larger 55 x 55cm size, and complement with a coordinating 43 x 43cm cushion.
You can use larger cushions as a base for your arrangement by placing them at the back of your sofa, while resting the smaller options out in front. This creates a cosy sense of layered depth, and the smaller cushions offer the perfect avenue to introduce pattern and a pop of colour. Pair a big and small cushion at each end of the sofa, pop a statement piece in the middle, or simply scatter to your heart’s content.
Everyone loves a good cushion arrangement, but they’re not the only accent in your arsenal when it comes to dressing your garden sofa. The trusty throw is a time-tested favourite, and might just be the secret ingredient that’ll take your space to new heights of comfort and warmth. Throws are a great visual balancer and will bring a layer of calm to even the most maximalist of sofa arrangements.
Choose a design which features hints of the colours or patterns on your sofa and cushions, and you’ll end up with a much more measured and polished look. We’ve got luxe sherpa fleece throws if you’re after optimal cosiness and a lustrous sheen, timeless knitted options for a modern country touch, or tasseled waffle throws that bring show-stealing texture.
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Quiet cappuccinos under the rising sun, afternoon tea with friends or long nights sipping wine beneath a starry sky – whatever you’ve got planned for your garden, chances are some extra surface space will come in handy. Whether it’s introducing a sturdy table to hold food and drinks, or making use of idle ground with a cosy floor cushion, keeping surfaces at the front of your mind will take your outdoor space a long way.
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No garden area is complete without a healthy sprinkle of frills, embellishments and finishing touch accessories. You can have the most structured, well-balanced decor scheme in the world – but if it’s missing that essential sense of pizzazz in the finer details, your outdoor space will always feel like it’s got a roof overhead.
Garden gatherings can often run late into the night, and if you’re having enough fun, it’s hard to imagine all your guests will be cleared out by sundown. Investing in outdoor lighting fixtures is a great way of making sure you don’t end up dancing in the dark, while also giving you the perfect opportunity to shed some light on your carefully curated garden decor.
Flood lights or outdoor wall lights work brilliantly for larger outdoor spaces, providing powerful ambient lighting that will illuminate your entire garden with ease. If you’ve got a more intimate space, there are plenty of gentler fixtures that’ll give you an irresistible fireside glow. Outdoor string or ‘fairy’ lights are always a favourite, and offer an easy way to create a cosy hideaway vibe. Hang them along your fence or wall, or get creative by wrapping them around trees or plants in your garden.
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