Introduction
When the pandemic hit, Londoners collectively realised just how vital making the most out of any green spaces was, and those who had them duly spent much more time outside in their gardens on that first very sunny spring. With around two million dwellings in the capital with garden space, it meant a flurry of quick overhauling to make the most of the outdoors while restricted from socialising ensued.
In the more than four years since, enjoying time in the garden has remained at the top of the roster, with them remaining pillars for entertaining, and playing an important role for wellbeing, especially given that more Londoners than ever before are hybrid working and therefore need the variety while at home that a well thought out garden can provide.
How to make it luxe, though? Two designers here offer their insights into how you can elevate a garden from feeling like a space that is outdoors to a space that offers various options from lounging to cooking to even allowing for wellness activities.
Image: Luciano Giubbilei garden design London garden – Eva Nemeth
Image: Vanessa Day Landscape Design, Belgravia Project
Extend your home design into your garden
Forget the idea that your garden should be a stand alone, separate entity from your interiors and instead take your inspiration from your home, says Vanessa Day, of Vanessa Day Landscapes. “The design direction and approach needs to be unique, of course, depending on your personal style and what you hope to achieve, but your starting point is looking at the interior palette and projecting it out into the garden space so it creates a marriage between the two. That is how you’re going to get really good results and something that feels harmonious,” she advises. The ultimate goal here is for the garden to feel like an extension of the home – an effect that’s only enhanced with the addition of, say, bifold doors, where you can quite literally remove any sense of partition between the two spaces and, when the weather is nice, really allow the garden to be another room in the house.
Create different ‘rooms’
While you may want your garden to feel like a natural addition to your home, for something that feels classic, Interior designer Diana Porter notes that “you don’t want to see the entire garden when you lookout the window.” Instead, she is keen for there to be different spaces: “first of all, people want a space to sit where the sun is, so make that a priority.In that area, you might want to think about adding a cooking outside element, whether via a barbecue or an outdoor pizza oven. It’s about creating rooms, so to speak, with character and the sense of romance that makes British gardens so charming.” Her advice is to begin with the area you will use and cherish the most, and from there build the other spaces.
Image: The garden room at the back of the Buchanan's inner-city London garden – Buchanan Studio
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Image: Vanessa Day Landscape Design, Richmond River House Project
Add texture and colour
Day’s advice once the fundamental form of your garden is in place? Start layering elements like pots and plants and different sculptures to give the garden interest. “The luxury element is really in the materials and details that add that extra dynamic, so opt for really good craftsmanship, and source beautiful materials and stones.” Pots in particular are popular at present, with Day saying that the right ones can be used to frame seating areas, or delineate between one section and another. Equally, details like mirrors, outdoor lighting, and pergolas can create a dining feel outdoors while decorating the space simultaneously, so it’s worth investing time and energy insourcing the right ones for your space.
Sneak in function
Fancy a sauna? Keen to have a plunge in an ice bath every morning? Couldn’t do without a few jumps on a rebounder to get the heart rate up? Day says that you’re not alone, given the vogue for all things wellness centred around daily rituals – but that should you wish to install a sauna pod or the like in your garden, it’s worth tucking it away somewhere so that it’s not the centrepiece of your garden, and that these are overall the preserve of bigger gardens for that very reason.
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Image: House & Garden – Finnmark Sauna
