One of the hardest parts about designing your outdoor living space is remembering that it’s not an indoor space. So that means that any type of indoor element will likely not be ideal outdoors. This can be hard to come to grips with because your outdoor living space is an extension of your indoor living space, but at all costs, try to avoid any type of indoor furniture or accessories outside.
There are, of course, other patio furniture faux pas to consider, and that’s why we’re here to help you make a seamless transition from indoors to outdoors. Here are some of the biggest patio design mistakes you want to avoid at all costs.
Avoid These Patio Design Mistakes
Furniture Doesn’t Match Your Outdoor Design Style
Despite the look of furniture not being the most important factor in furniture selection, it still plays an important role. Sometimes people will buy patio furniture that doesn’t match their exterior design style because the furniture was cheap. Well, the only problem in this scenario is everything.
First, cheap furniture shouldn’t even be a factor in your purchasing decision. Secondly, there is plenty of elegant and beautiful patio furniture design styles that are not only beautiful but are also affordable and will match the exteriors of your home.
Overcrowding Your Patio
Just because you’re creating an outdoor living space, that doesn’t mean that space can’t become overcrowded with all the “stuff” you want to incorporate. You can sometimes do this by choosing furniture that’s too big for the space you have or by just having too much stuff. You think you’re creating a “vibe,” but what you’re actually doing is creating a mess!
Not Having Enough Lighting
When creating an outdoor living space, you shouldn’t have to succumb to only using it during the day when the sun is out or during certain hours… If you want to enjoy your space at night, you should be able to! The only thing that would get in the way of that is if you don’t have sufficient enough lighting.
Sure, you may have a porch light, but that’s not enough light to create the vibe you want for your living space. Things like string lights, sconce fixtures, and solar lamps are great additions to create the look and vibe you want outdoors.
Too Much Greenery
Yes, you’re creating an outdoor living space, but all too often, people tend to go a little overboard when it comes to adding greenery. Just because you’re outdoors, that doesn’t mean you should add a plant to every nook and cranny of your space. In most cases, a few potted or hanging plants will look great… You can then let the beauty of the outdoors provide your space with the remaining greenery you think you need.
Bad Furniture Arrangement
As they say in real estate, “location, location, location!” That same theory applies to the arranging of your furniture as well. Sometimes you can lose a sizable amount of visual space by having a piece of furniture facing the wrong direction. On top of that, depending on how your furniture is laid out, you could be setting yourself up for the sun to be beaming down on you every time you go to sit down, which makes for a very uncomfortable seating arrangement.
When planning your furniture placement, also consider the direction of the sun as well.
No Color Coordination
This isn’t saying that your outdoor space needs to be “matchy-matchy,” but in the same token, you don’t want your living space to be a smorgasbord of mismatch furniture as well.
With this mistake, you have to look at the interiors of your home… Does your living room have furniture that doesn’t match? If it does, then that would explain why you’d be okay with a mismatched outdoor living space… But if your living room has great interior design with matching or complementing colors, there’s no excuse why your outdoor space should be any different.
You don’t have to have a red outdoor sofa, chair, and pillows but you might consider having a red outdoor sofa with pops of yellow or green to create a complementing color contrast. Some complementing color choices to incorporate with your outdoor furniture/accessories include:
- Blue, white, silver
- Red, yellow, gold
- Green, yellow, gold
- Black, white, silver/gold
- Pink, green, gold
You can mix and match the colors how you choose. Just make sure they complement each other and don’t clash.
When you’re ready to design your outdoor living space, you’ll be surprised at what taking the time out to properly plan your patio will do for the overall enjoyment of it. From bad furniture arrangement to junking up your patio, don’t be the one to make these patio design mistakes!