Outdoor Rooms: 15 Ways to Kick Up the Color and Pattern

From throw pillows and accessories in saturated shades to ideas for adding pattern underfoot, here are 15 ways to stylishly work color and pattern into your outdoor room.

By: Brian Patrick Flynn

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Photo By: Â© Rustic White Photography, LLC

Color Your World

Turn your patio, porch or deck into an outdoor room you'll love living in by bringing all the colors and patterns you love indoors — out.

Mix It Up

Mixing patterns is an easy way to add a lot of visual interest to even a small outdoor space. For a professionally designed look, choose a range of small-, medium- and large-scale patterns. And, stick with different shades of the same color family or really mix it up and contrast complementary colors, like orange and blue.

Paint Your Planters

No outdoor room is complete without a few potted plants, and painted planters are a great way to work in a cheery splash of color. These upcycled pallet planters add touches of white, aqua and indigo to the corners of the room plus a graphic pattern created by the vertically installed planks. Learn how to make your own with our step-by-step instructions.

Try a Twist on Tropical

Feel like you're on vacation anytime by working in beachy hues like coral, navy and aqua. Pop in even more color with accessories in saturated shades like lime green, hot pink or lemon yellow.

Mix Cool and Warm Tones

Pairing a cool color, like blue, with a warm tone, like orange, is an easy way to create a high-energy palette. In this coastal outdoor space, we paired watery blue-greens with fiery coral for an updated beachy look.

Keep It All In the Family

If the thought of filling your outdoor room with contrasting colors is intimidating, take an equally colorful route and layer hues in the same color family instead. Here, we piled on pillows in two shades of the same blue-green hue.

Add Style Underfoot With Stone

Hardscape surfaces, like these stone pavers, are a great way of adding natural pattern. For a more organic look, choose pavers with imperfect edges and stagger them with the same amount of space between each paver. For a more geometric look, use pavers with perfectly straight edges arranged in a grid-like pattern.

Go Low Maintenance With Container Plants

Living plants literally bring your outdoor space to life. They're also a great way to incorporate both color and an interesting texture but it's important to keep each plant's light tolerance in mind. For a covered outdoor patio or porch, stick with shade-loving species that require very little maintenance, needing water just two to three times a week. For a sunny deck, patio or porch, choose plants that can tolerate full sun but be prepared to dedicate more time to their care, especially during dry periods.

Woven Patterns

Furniture made of woven materials like wicker, reeds or rattan has been the go-to for outdoor rooms for more than a century. Modern materials recreate the timeless basketweave look but are much more durable. For instance, this loveseat is made of resin which is woven to look like wicker, but with mildew- and pest-resistant materials.

Freshen Up With Flowers

Nothing brightens up a room — either indoors or out — like fresh flowers. A good trick is to choose flowers in a color that contrasts with your decor, for instance pair orange with blue, yellow with purple, red with green, and white with black. Contrasting colors ensures that the flowers really pop and create a focal point in your space.

Add Some Shade

A shade sail is a budget-friendly way to cool off an overexposed outdoor space but the material's monochromatic, neutral color can be a bit bland. Spice it up with trim for an added pop of color around the edges. Get our tips for adding the color band plus dressing up the support posts.

Layer On Pattern With Rugs

Soften up the hard underfoot surface of your outdoor space with a weather-resistant area rug. For a large space, create a custom look without the custom cost with several small rugs instead of a single large one. A textural pattern, like this narrow stripe, will be easier to match up than a large graphic design. And, if you're intimidated by bold color, stick with new neutrals like gray, greige or blue-gray.

Make a Colorful Statement

When decorating indoors, a single unique decorative piece really makes a statement. Treat your outdoor living spaces the same way by hanging a weather-resistant relic or sculpture in a spot that's visible from several vantage points.

Consider Textures

Contrasting smooth and coarse textures is another way to add visual interest to your outdoor room. Here, we mixed texture in the pillows to create visual tension.

Give It Life

Potted plants, vases of fresh-cut flowers and bowls of fruit or veggies are all great ways to work a bit of organic color into your decor.

Outdoor Rooms: 15 Ways to Kick Up the Color and Pattern

Related To:

Shop This Look

Color Your World

Mix It Up

Paint Your Planters

Try a Twist on Tropical

Mix Cool and Warm Tones

Keep It All In the Family

Add Style Underfoot With Stone

Go Low Maintenance With Container Plants

Woven Patterns

Freshen Up With Flowers

Add Some Shade

Layer On Pattern With Rugs

Make a Colorful Statement

Consider Textures

Give It Life

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