43 Top Outdoor Design Trends

Whether you lean toward the elegant and sophisticated or you're more the casual type, you'll find trendy outdoor furniture and designs to fit your style. Maybe you still use the painted metal lawn chairs your grandparents owned or rustic patio planters made from old wooden pallets. There's absolutely nothing wrong with anything you love, but trends change. Find new outdoor patio furniture and landscape trends to inspire you in our gallery of fashionable, functional ideas from designers, architects and other pros.

At Kate Anne Designs, a landscape design and build company in Los Angeles, co-owners Kate and Ryan Gross say using lights on different levels is trending and adds depth and interest to outdoor designs. "We add lights as accents," Kate says, "and play with different intensities, such as flood lights versus spotlights. A layered effect pulls a viewer's attention outside of the home’s windows and across the yard at night." They also use downlights, uplights, overhead string lights and pathway lights. The lighting industry has exploded, Ryan says, and homeowners who are tired of being indoors add lights to make the yard and garden a “true extension of the home.”

Kate says homeowners want their landscapes and hardscapes to feel relaxed, a trend that calls for repeating and paralleling materials and tones. "We add color with accessories, but we’re moving toward creamy, neutral tones, like tone-on-tone, and warmer colors, such as brick reds. We don’t want it to feel too busy." Here, cream-colored chair cushions and an umbrella complement the colors of the hardscaping materials, like the deck around the pool.

'We’re seeing a vibe toward tranquility," Kate adds. "We’ve gone through the COVID-19 lockdown and now everyone wants to chill. People are leaning toward a mellow feel rather than a high-contrast vibe with edgy landscape and hardscape designs." This outdoor design has a playful, relaxed feel, thanks to hanging chairs and strings of lights draped casually through the trees.