How to Create an Outdoor Oasis in a Small Space

Restorative retreats come in all sizes — and these pro projects prove it. Borrow these designer moves to add character to every square inch of your outdoor space.

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April 22, 2021

By: Lauren Oster

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Deploy Unexpected Forms

The trio of organic orbs add a golden glow to this ultramodern space, and give it an unexpected softness that’s utterly magical. In contrast to tried-and-true stake lights, these unique pieces add an interesting element to the front of the lawn. You can create a similar look with these pebble garden lights.

From: Environmental Design Studio

Move Beyond a Lawn

Instead of sod, try irregular pavers that add texture and visual interest to spaces with small footprints. Fill the spaces between them by seeding your yard with lovely, lush ground cover like this, low-growing and perennial creeping thyme. It's fragrant, colorful in all seasons and hardy enough to withstand foot traffic.

Add a Maximum-Impact Feature

When a multi-level babbling brook with waterfalls and contemplation pools doesn’t fit into your square footage, draw inspiration from this clever city courtyard. Designers constructed a space-conscious steel water feature, creating a feature wall and providing the patio with an enveloping layer of white noise.

From: D. A. Dunlevy

Get Creative With Privacy Screens

These Brazilian walnut woven wire structures create a visual barrier between this wildflower and evergreen yard and function as an outdoor sculpture. As you think about how to interrupt sight lines that are less than desirable, pay attention to how the lines of your barriers can themselves become decorative.

From: TLC Gardens

Use Vertical Planters as a Canvas

Think of a presentation, like this one, as the next generation of living walls. On this painted brick wall, a pair of segmented steel planters, loaded with small succulents, function like unframed canvases in a gallery. They’re a low-maintenance, high-drama way to develop the look of a modern outdoor room.

From: Exterior Worlds, Inc

Repurpose Stock Tanks

This relatively inexpensive water feature will be the show piece of your backyard and provide a soothing ambiance. There’s no time like the present to invest a few hundred dollars in a DIY fountain (or container garden, or pond, or kiddie pool, or hot tub) to serve as the centerpiece of your space.

From: Lindgren Landscape

Stick to a Simple Palette

This sleek, contemporary patio makes the most of minimalistic elements, like the smooth stucco walls and concrete hardscaping. The use of long, low white coffee tables and seating gives the space a streamlined look. As you develop your space, don’t go overboard with colors and patterns. A less-is-more look can be the best statement in a small space.

From: Ecocentrix Landscape Architecture

Invest in Pretty Patio Furniture

Resist the urge to fill your outdoor space with the first pieces you can afford, and bide your time until your budget can handle ones that make your heart sing. This sculptural table and its sage green chairs are the focal points of this patio, and they’re more than enough to make it feel welcoming and intentional, when paired with a few container plants.

From: Molly Wood

Think Pink

By day, this Arizona pool patio is all about pale stone, crisp upholstered lounges and white stucco. After the sun goes down, tinted lighting makes this patio feel like a whole new space. Sure, you could stick to straightforward landscape lighting that doesn’t give your home a fabulous pastel alter ego — but why would you?

From: Sonja Cellucci

Repeat a Bold Pattern

Wide, black and white striped fabric on a daybed swing’s bolster pillow and a pair of wicker armchairs tie the two sides of this contemporary covered patio together. If you find an outdoor fabric that calls to you, go ahead and splash it across cushions, tablecloths, umbrellas, ottomans — you get the idea.

From: Ecocentrix Landscape Architecture

Embrace Artificial Grass

As this high-end sitting area demonstrates, we’ve come a long way from the neon turf that covered sports stadiums half a century ago. There are now countless tasteful ways to get the look of a lawn without setting your water meter spinning or spending all of your spare time gardening — and they feel pretty great on bare feet, too.

From: Ecocentrix Landscape Architecture

Multiply With Mirrors

Reflective surfaces are every bit as effective at making exterior spaces look bigger as they are at making interior rooms seem more spacious. Can you imagine how cool the flames of this fire table must look when they’re doubled in the mirrors behind the bench seating?

From: Ecocentrix Landscape Architecture

Keep It Clean

We’re not talking about raking and sweeping your space (though we encourage that as well); we mean maintaining uncluttered surfaces. This straightforward grill station conceals accessories in a custom cupboard to present a smooth, serene face to the world.

From: Shades of Green Landscape Architecture

Plant Chaises Beyond the Patio

This lounge area recalls the mystique of Hollywood hideaways, like the Chateau Marmont, where celebrities retreat behind greenery-covered walls to private cabanas. Instead of plunking furniture in the center of your space, try nestling gathering areas against walls or under trees.

From: Marie Flanigan Interiors

Make Room for a Daybed

This wicker daybed has the same footprint as a large bench or an outdoor sofa, but the lounging it invites is somehow more luxurious. Summer drinks just taste better when you sip them while reclining in a spot like this one.

From: Marie Flanigan Interiors

Pile On the Throws

This Acapulco chair and a graphic blanket provides warmth when the temperatures drop in the evening. Estimate the number of outdoor blankets you imagine you and visitors might need, then double it.

From: BOXHILL

Create a Feature Wall

The same principles you’d use to draw attention to a gathering space in your living room can focus the eye on a spot on your porch, as well. Here, an oversized woven basket anchors the sitting area between the front door and a window.

From: Rebecca Rowland Interiors

Hang a Hammock

Go from zero to Yucatán in no time flat by putting under-utilized trunks or pillars to work as supports for the best seat in the yard. A sporty, campground version is better than no hammock at all, but intricate crocheted beauties, like this one, celebrate weekend naps as the special occasions they are.

From: THELIFESTYLEDCO

Arrange Multiple Coffee Tables

Versatile and delightfully decorative, this trio of hammered metal coffee tables are much more interesting than a single piece. Better yet, they can be redeployed around the patio or folded up and tucked indoors.

From: THELIFESTYLEDCO

Integrate a Play Area

This spectacular kids-only structure riffs on the same hues and materials used in the deck and pergola area beyond it. The resulting dual-use space is both functional and graceful.

From: Gunn Landscape Architecture

Shop This Look

Photo By: Caryn Waechter

Photo By: Derek Johnson Visuals

Photo By: Mason Summers, Anchor Pictures

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Photo By: Steve Glass

Photo By: Manolo Langis, langoworks.com

Photo By: Marie Buck

Photo By: Ethan Cooper

Photo By: Manolo Langis, langoworks.com

Photo By: Ive Haugeland

Photo By: Julie Soefer Photography

Photo By: Matt Vacca

Photo By: Julie Mannell Photography

Photo By: LCo Design

Photo By: Alex Herring

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How to Create an Outdoor Oasis in a Small Space

Related To:

Deploy Unexpected Forms

Move Beyond a Lawn

Add a Maximum-Impact Feature

Get Creative With Privacy Screens

Use Vertical Planters as a Canvas

Repurpose Stock Tanks

Stick to a Simple Palette

Invest in Pretty Patio Furniture

Think Pink

Repeat a Bold Pattern

Embrace Artificial Grass

Multiply With Mirrors

Keep It Clean

Plant Chaises Beyond the Patio

Make Room for a Daybed

Pile On the Throws

Create a Feature Wall

Hang a Hammock

Arrange Multiple Coffee Tables

Integrate a Play Area

Shop This Look

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