Chic Ideas for The Outdoor Room! This is How Terrace Design Succeeds
The design of the terrace should be well thought out, after all, the open-air room is in permanent use in summer. We introduce you to the most beautiful styles as well as helpful tips and reveal which highlights round off the design.
3-point plan for the terrace design
Terrace design requires a certain amount of preparation and planning. With this 3-point plan, nothing is guaranteed to go wrong!
3 steps for terrace design:
- Identify needs
- Select style
- Create plan
Step 1: Identify needs
It is important for the design to find out what you want for your terrace. Do you want to receive many guests, have a barbecue, celebrate or instead prefer a larger bed or just a lawn to lie on? Do you prefer everything to be as easy to maintain as possible or is gardening for you relaxation? Write it down so that you can grasp your thoughts better and have a better overview.
Step 2: Select style
Country house style, urban or rather Asian – the terrace can be designed as you wish. It is particularly harmonious when the terrace fits in visually with the house and the rest of the interior. These are particularly popular styles for terrace design:
Country house
The country house style focuses on natural materials such as wood, rattan, stone and clay, while the focus for textiles is on cotton and linen. Shabby Chic refines this style and gives it a special touch. On the terrace, chic wooden or intricate metal furniture, plant pots and watering cans made of zinc and freesias, lilac or cornflowers transform the garden into an idyllic country garden, while gravel, wood or granite refine the terrace floor.
Highlight: Decorative elements such as the beautifully patterned tea service as flower pots.
Scandi Chic can be seen everywhere at the moment and is also ideal for the terrace. But superfluous knick-knacks are out of place. Muted colours, simple shapes and natural materials like wood and cotton play the main role.
To give the whole style a big touch of cosiness, Scandi Chic uses textiles: cushions, plaids and an outdoor carpet should not be missing on the terrace.
Highlight: Cleverly set light with fairy lights, lanterns and lanterns.
Asian style
Like the Scandinavian style, the Asian style also dispenses with pompous design. The look focuses on the essentials. Green plants instead of colourful flowerbeds are in the centre, such as bonsais or bamboo. The Asian-style garden focuses on a calm wood and stone look.
Highlight: A parasol in Asian design on the terrace.
Modern
A modern designed terrace often consists of large grey terrace tiles or a floor covering made of wood-polymer materials, also called WPC, which have a wood look, are easier to clean and can be used barefoot. An outdoor kitchen is also attracting more and more fans who like to cook for friends and family outdoors.
The modern terrace dispenses with romantic elements and intense colours; instead, muted tones dominate the flooring and furniture. The decoration is simple and accentuated.
Highlight: A water feature on the terrace is a special eye-catcher and prevents the terrace from looking dreary.
Mediterranean
The Mediterranean-style terrace radiates pure serenity and summer feeling. Natural stone, bright flowers and light colours create this warm and friendly atmosphere. The natural stone in terracotta is the classic for a terrace in Mediterranean style, but irregularly shaped floor tiles also convey this flair. With the garden furniture it does not depend on a certain material, but it is best for the Mediterranean lover to do without plastic furniture and prefer basket, rattan or simple iron furniture. A privacy screen made of natural stones enhances the summery feeling and at the same time protects against prying eyes.
Highlight: Terracotta pots with an olive tree or citrus plant bring the south directly onto the terrace.
Romantic
The country house style already contains a basic romanticism, those who want to increase this even more, set highlights with accessories. These can be ornate and additionally decorated metal bird cages, a lavish bouquet of flowers on the terrace table or quite a lot of lights and fairy lights distributed over the terrace.
Highlight: A pergola, for example, wrapped with rose bushes or other climbing plants. This colonnade not only looks charming, it also provides shade and is a good privacy screen.
Step 3: Create plan
Once you have decided on a style and know what your terrace and garden are to be used for, the concrete planning begins. Make a drawing with measurements and sizes, so you can experiment as you like. Keep the following aspects in mind:
- Find out the size of the property.
- Draw the desired subareas.
- If you decide to redesign, choose the right floor covering (consider style and maintenance) and calculate how much material you will need. Perhaps it is useful to order “reserve tiles” as well.
- Find out which furniture you like and which fits where (consider size and radius of use!).
What belongs in every garden?
A terrace is usually separated from the rest of the garden by a floor covering. The floor can consist of tiles, slabs or planks, the material is a matter of taste as well as of use or needs. Popular floor coverings are:
- WPC is easy to clean, but can also heat up quickly in the sun.
- Wooden floorboards made of e.g. Douglas fir are very robust and durable.
- Clay stones are frost-resistant and waterproof.
- Natural stones radiate a natural atmosphere, but can also heat up considerably in summer.
What to look out for on a large/small terrace?
Even a small garden with terrace becomes an oasis of well-being! You should pay attention to these points when designing:
- Plan the structure in advance here as well.
- Use room dividers, such as perennials or trellises, to visually separate areas from one another and thus subdivide them.
- Choose slender shrubs and trees instead of bulky plants.
- Your garden will look deeper if you build in different heights, e.g. with a raised terrace and raised beds.
- A vertical garden saves space.
- Add an accent with an eye-catching feature that creates an additional feeling of depth. This can also be chic garden furniture!
With a large garden you have more space available, but it is precisely then that thorough planning is advantageous. It’s easy to overestimate the size of furniture or the purchase of terrace tiles and end up with too much or too little of it … Think about whether you want a flowerbed and if so, how much maintenance is needed. Or if you prefer to sit on an easy-care lawn and plan a larger terrace.
Decorate terrace with accessories
The terrace can also be made cosy without a new floor or a new lounge corner. You can create great effects with light, such as fairy lights and large and small lanterns, but also solar plug-in lights around the terrace.
Even small selected pieces such as flower pots on a pretty plant staircase or wall decorations conjure up a feel-good flair on the terrace. You can use them to embellish your terrace even more:
- Large and small flower pots in a mix
- Small fountain or drinking fountain for birds
- Hanging lights
- Hanging vases
- Vertical garden
That certain something for the terrace
If you are still looking for something special for your garden, maybe one of the following ideas is something for you:
- A fireplace for cosy evenings with friends.
- Pavilion, for that you need a lot of space that should be left over. Nevertheless it offers a wonderful retreat for reading or relaxing.
- Hollywood swing, these also take up some space, but are very cosy and fun for young and old!
- A chic beach chair brings a holiday feeling to the terrace – bet you can smell the sea in it!