Creating an affordable and stylish outdoor area

In the Australian climate, we spend a lot of time entertaining outdoors. It’s literally another room in the house, so it makes sense to treat it like one.

If you get creative, you don’t have to spend a fortune bringing it together and giving it a little wow factor. Here are some great ways to create a gorgeous looking outdoor entertaining space you’d be proud to invite your friends to, and that won’t cost the earth.

The Table

This can be quite a big expense for the garden, but there are some cheap options that actually look good. Ikea usually has some great options, but the humble picnic table and bench is what I’m going for myself. They are often overlooked, but they actually look fantastic painted a muted colour. If you hunt around, you can pick up a second hand or inexpensive one on eBay and paint it with some outdoor weather paint. Get a similar look to this table by painting it with Ashanti from the Resene Multi finish Range.

Plants

Surround the area with some lush foliage and lots of it. Not only does it give a cooling effect, pot plants can help you define the area. Edibles in planters, like tomatoes, lettuce and herbs can look lovely mixed in with the greenery, plus there’s nothing better than serving a salad straight from the garden. To make it interesting and non-uniform, go for a number of different sizes and styles of planters and if you can find big old pots, even better! Try your luck for some vintage ones at my favourite old-fashioned junk shop in the area, The Retro Wombat, Thirroul.

Lighting

My big tip here is to ditch the harsh bright outdoor light! Add to the ambience in the evening by arranging some candles on the table with some small potted plants or flowers (from the garden even better).  It doesn’t need to be over the top; just a few simple block candles would work well. For example, dot some inexpensive LED solar-powered pendant lamps around the trees in the garden. My absolute hero item here are the festoon lights overhead. They make the scene! You can also replace these with fairy lights found at Ikea or Bunnings.

Table setting

If you can, go for real cloth napkins, plates and glasses, it just makes it so much nicer. Keep the plastic and paper for picnics. You can find more outdoor inspiration from my dedicated Pinterest board.

Written by Mel Chesneau of Styled Canvas

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