Cool outdoor updates for your garden or terrace

Easy breezy

Rowen & Wren’s summer collection is garden table dressing 101; think rustic wooden chopping boards, palm-leaf baskets and tableware made from drip-glazed terracotta . And did we mention those linen napkins, great for both evening soirées and sprucing up a mundane Monday night dinner?

ACID DROP

Hand-blown glass lighting specialist Curiousa & Curiousa has a new range of outdoor designs, with 23 gorgeous colours to pick from.

on Fine Form

One hike around this year’s Milan Furniture Fair and the message was loud and clear: outdoor design is big news. If we needed further proof, Italian super-brand Flexform seized its moment in the global spotlight to launch its first-ever outdoor range, sticking to its winning formula of timeless shapes, long-lasting materials and a contemporary yet classically Italian touch.

Expect iconic pieces from the likes of Mario Asnago and Claudio Vender (including the 1939 Moka dining chairs, pictured) reimagined in weather-resistant materials.

Swing low

Putting your feet up in the garden gets literal with Carl Hansen & Søn’s suspended BK13 swing sofa. Hanging from knotted ropes is a solid-teak bench with weather-resistant cushions, first designed by danish architect Bodil Kjær in 1959. now, just find someone to give you a little push...

New addition

Meet Mokolo – Romo’s first foray into the world of outdoor fabric. Serious on the one hand (think polypropylene-mix weaves that promise to be mould-, mildew-and stain-resistant with a high colourfastness to light and chlorine) and sunny on the other, thanks toa tropical, holiday-feel palette.

Hedge your BeTS

Unpredictable weather patterns mean Brits would do well to invest in furniture that can be whipped in and out of the house at a moment’s notice. So it’s just as well that Anthropologie’s Parker sofa has been designedfor indoor and outdoor use, clad as it is in a weather-resistant material built to withstand summer showers. It’s printed with yellow stripes to keep you feeling cheerful when they do start.

boho rhapsody

Mix together touches of jute, a little fringing and a palette of burnt, earthy hues and suddenly you have an outdoor space worthy of any Moroccan courtyard. John Lewis & Partners is calling the look Bohemian Summer, with cushions, pouffes and outdoor rugs to encourage lots of idleness.

rug it out

Outdoor ‘rooms’ are having a moment, but how do you define a space without the traditional confines of four walls? Much like inside, rolling out a rug is a good starting point, and the first garden collection from Spanish designer Nani Marquina sets the bar for outdoor accessories that place as much emphasis on aesthetics as they do function.

This chequerboard-floral combo is water and weatherproof thanks to a polyethylene terephthalate material (recycled plastic bottles to you and me), yet features the same skilfully blended colours and varying texture as its indoor siblings.

good show

Kettal is our go-to brand for outdoor furniture that’s anything but boring. And don’t you just adore these little numbers by Swiss designer Michel Charlot? Pretty by day, thanks to simple wire structures wrapped in textile sleeves (available in no fewer than 85 fabrics, with some from Doshi Levien’s Parallels line), the real party starts at sundown when each design casts its own colourful shadow display.

sun seekers

Have serious plans to put your feet up at the first sight of sunshine? Us too. Better grab one of these laid-back designs and do it in style, then...

Find ideas for cool outdoor living spaces here.