Decorating & Design
20+ Outdoor Living Space Ideas To Embrace This Summer
Published on May 31, 2024
Come summer, your outdoor living space can act as an extension of your home — and it doesn’t take an elaborate undertaking to amp up the enjoyment. We’re sharing 20+ outdoor ideas to maximize your backyard, balcony or country yard (some you can even tackle in a weekend). Take cues from Hali MacDonald‘s outdoor living room, Erin Feasby’s resort-inspired backyard and more.
Scroll down for our best outdoor living space ideas to embrace this summer!
Bring Indoor Furniture Out
“I love the mid-century modern aesthetic, but I was having a hard time finding outdoor furniture with enough soul,” says garden pro Sarah Keenleyside, who ended up bringing her 1970s Italian chairs with snap-off upholstery outside on her own Toronto deck. “Adding pendant lighting outside also creates so much intimacy and acts like a ceiling,” she says.
Create A Mini Garden
Don’t have space for a garden bed? This succulent garden in a repurposed bird bath combines a variety of plants for texture and color, all at eye level in a seating area where the plants can be fully appreciated. This is a great option for small condo terraces.
Repurpose Garden Stools
Multitasking garden stools are lightweight and easy to move around, and can be used as low tables or seating and quickly reconfigured for a party.
Designate A Fun Zone
This Montreal backyard has dedicated spot for table tennis, with a repurposed container that doubles as a mini cabin. The homeowners installed a rubberized floor and added a basketball hoop and Ping-Pong table. “I wanted the yard to be a place where my son can spend time with his friends,” says homeowner Teresa Mihalik. The area is also great spot for a workout or yoga session.
Set Up A Bar
Outdoor bars don’t have to be complicated. This Bedford, N.S. house is the site of frequent parties so a rustic bamboo table and simple woven tray serve nicely as a bar, with a vase of flowers as a finishing touch.
Create A Color Scheme
Bring your heirlooms outside, or spotlight collections in your dining vignettes in a signature shade. In this backyard, owner Michelle Hurley sets the table with her vintage collection of Johnson Brothers transferware, which she augments with inexpensive tableware and blue and white accessories.
Install Window Boxes
Soften utility buildings with window boxes filled with trailing plants like ivy, potato vine and colorful blooms.
Try A Trough
As a budget alternative to raised pools, these livestock troughs have been popping up as cool pools in many backyards. Sarah and Adam Cooper asked their designer, Arren Williams, for a fun addition to their rustic backyard, so he floated the idea of a 2′-deep galvanized metal stock tank pool. It’s economical and easy to use; at the end of the season, they can just flip it over — and it’s been an inexpensive source of summer fun.
Consider Low Seating
Give outdoor seating a modern upgrade: an outdoor sectional that’s low to the ground is a sleek, contemporary look. In this covered cabana, the light colored upholstery gives the space a breezy, California vibe.
Embrace Jewel-Like Lighting
Lighting is crucial for creating a warm, inviting ambience in an outdoor space. In Hali MacDonald’s outdoor living room, faceted pendants glow like gems at night. And woven chairs are practical: air flows through them when it’s hot, and they dry off quickly after a rain shower.
Consider The Home Exterior
Tie in the palette of the outside of your home with your patio furniture for a seamless look. In this Saskatoon penthouse terrace, dark cushions are a sophisticated fit for the dark window frames, railing and patio tiles.
Create Symmetry With Matching Umbrellas
Even sun worshippers acknowledge every garden needs shade to be comfortable. In this dining area, twin umbrellas are less obtrusive than one umbrella that pierces the centre of the table, and they add symmetry.
Integrate Seating
A bench, softened with colorful pillows, is constructed between two planters near this fire feature in designer Sarah Keenleyside’s garden. The floating bench is nestled between two raised, built-in planters filled with white peegee hydrangeas. “The planters are high enough that when you’re seated the flowers aren’t in your face, and we can see and enjoy them from inside, too,” says Sarah. Watch a video tour of this backyard here.
Add An Outdoor Rug
Punch up the color and spruce up drab tiles with an outdoor rug. In this ravine-adjacent suburban yard west of Toronto, a jaunty zebra print picks up the tones of the toss pillows and juices up the neutral furnishings.
Mix Up Container Baskets
Think outside the box (and terracotta) when it comes to container gardening. A bare concrete patio in this B.C. ranch house is given a lush look from a mix of perennials in large-scale baskets. The bonus? You can group plants together that have similar sun exposure and watering needs, and they can be moved around if needed.
Install Hanging Chairs
Put a pergola to work with groovy hanging chairs (a favorite spot for designer Erin Feasby’s twins to hang out) that conjures a tropical resort. See a tour of this pool here.
Plant A Vegetable Garden
This might be the year to consider planting a veggie garden (it saves money, is good for the environment and supports pollinators). You can customize what you grow: go beyond vegetables and try fruits, berries and herbs.
Upgrade Your Fence
This privacy screen takes a fence up a notch with a slatted version, like this one. The tight spacing obscures the view, but lets the breeze through and has a clean, contemporary look that suits the glass enclosure and Corten planters.
Add A Fire Element
It’s a focal point that gives a reason for everyone to gather around. Now available in a range of prices, fire tables come in myriad styles to suit your outdoor space. This modern version’s dark hue segues into the stone flooring for a seamless look in this outdoor lounge area.
Hang A Hammock
Pick a peaceful, private spot in your garden and deck and string up a hammock to harness those lazy summer days. To establish the lush, private environment the homeowners were after in this West Coast garden, the hammock is nearly obscured by Hollywood junipers and magnolia trees.
Create A Breakfast Area
Create an intimate dining spot à deux for morning meals — or cocktails — with a lightweight table.
Plant A Green Screen
Two lilac trees underplanted with ferns create privacy for a backyard cabana. It’s a soft way to screen the area and make it more private, and the sound of the rustling leaves is soothing.