Home Truths: Designer outdoor rooms

Donnan White. Photo / Supplied

I am an interior designer, not a landscape designer. I can live with that but the fact is I want a beautiful garden. Sadly, I haven't won Lotto yet so my desire for an architecturally landscaped garden planted with mature plants and trees, right now, is a dream.

To convert this dream to reality I will have to undertake most of the garden development myself. A daunting prospect, you might think. But as an interior designer, I work by the principles of good design. So, if I apply these principles, I should be able to design my garden - a process I want to share with you.

Inside your home, four walls define a room. Walls, gates, hedges, and so on define the boundaries of the outdoor "room".

Interior designers tackle an interior renovation with sample boards upon which fabrics, paint chips, finishes and carpet are arranged together. This is how a palette is developed for a room's decor. I want everything in my garden to be a well-planned, integrated scheme. Therefore I need to develop a sample board for my garden.

I tell my interior design clients to tear out pictures of rooms they like so I start by ripping out images of gardens I like. To avoid costly mistakes, I talk to plant nursery professionals, and other gardeners to source the best plants.

An addition to a home that doesn't suit the style of the house, and/or the inappropriate use of colour, texture and pattern is disturbing. We instinctively recognise and appreciate what is "right".

So, my 1940s English-style house will not have a Japanese-style garden because this combination will jar.

My outdoor room will complement the house. I will replicate house proportion in the garden. I draw lines from the house and extend them through the garden with the use of plant material. I will complement roof pitch by introducing pyramid-shaped topiaries.

I have three "outdoor rooms" to develop. Many of my interior design clients have had three interior rooms to renovate, but cost constraints and images of chaos are daunting. I advise them to break the project into stages so the renovation becomes manageable. My front garden becomes stage one.

When I take a brief from a client for the renovation of a space, I ascertain the purpose of the room's function. So, I ask myself: "What do I want to use the outdoor room for?" I want to pick flowers, create a pleasant journey for all from the front gate to the front door, and for relaxation, entertaining and dining. It is obvious my site could be treated like an open-plan dining and living area inside a home, with a passageway down the side.

During initial consultation with my clients I ascertain what furniture and accessories they want to remove, retain, renovate, reupholster, replace, or purchase. I can then organise the reupholstering and renovation processes and source new items.

Ultimately, I want them to clear the room of everything, so tradespeople can work effectively and efficiently.

I ask myself: "What existing plants are worth saving?"

I dig over the lawn in my stage two area, and transplant the plants worth saving to it. The other plants I throw into my garden bin or give away. I now have a clean slate to start my garden renovation.

Next, I look at the walls, floor and ceiling of my outdoor room. The perimeter walls need cleaning and painting. The soil needs feeding, the garden layout reshaping, and the big trees pruning. With these tasks done, I am ready to replant from large to small. Rather like placing furniture in a room.

In a home the horizontal surfaces take the most wear and tear. Consider kitchen bench tops, and the flow of foot traffic on floors. This is where I advise my clients to buy the best they can afford. My garden path and lawn are going to be the best I can afford.

The last tradespeople to enter a home during a new build or renovation are the carpet layers, so sowing my new lawn will come last.

Next will be the placement of outdoor furniture and accessories. The style, colour and fabric of these should all be extensions of the home. If there are fine furnishings inside, it makes little sense not to invest outside as well.

Indoor comfort is now available in outdoor furniture, with the same stylish good looks of interior decor. Today's outdoor fabrics are virtually indistinguishable from those used in the living room. They look and feel good, are UV- and mildew-resistant, and come in an almost unlimited colour-fast palette.

A beautifully furnished outdoor room is an extension of the house. I can design my outdoor space in the same manner as any interior room.

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