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Getting your coastal kitchen floor plan right
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Getting your coastal kitchen floor plan right

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How to style up a small garden and make it feel bigger

How to style up a small garden and make it feel bigger

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The one tree that will make your front garden complete

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Clues to decorating with blue

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Five ways to a fabulous feature wall

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An expert's guide to vertical gardens

An expert's guide to vertical gardens

8 small things that can take your home from blah to beautiful

8 small things that can take your home from blah to beautiful

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Take a peek inside our cosy June issue

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Smoked Trout and Pea Quiche

Smoked Trout and Pea Quiche

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At home with Home Beautiful's Katrina O'Brien

Top 7 buys from Ikea's new April collection

Top 7 buys from Ikea's new April collection

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Ikea is releasing air-cleaning curtains

Bunnings release gorgeous rattan furniture collection

Bunnings release gorgeous rattan furniture collection

5 creative ways to decorate a non-working fireplace

5 creative ways to decorate a non-working fireplace

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4 essential tips for painting a feature wall

  1. Home
  2. Outdoor

7 space-enhancing tips for urban gardens

Give a tiny garden or compact courtyard a lift with these simple tips - by Home Beautiful
  • 06 Mar 2018
7 space-enhancing tips for urban gardens
Brent Wilson

As homes appear on ever-smaller blocks, it’s more important than ever to make the most of your outdoor space. Here’s how.

Prioritise. Think what the main use for your outdoor zone will be – entertaining friends, or a cosy retreat just for two, and plan your furniture purchases accordingly.

Small garden | Home Beautiful
Cath Muscat

Avoid bulky pieces. Rattan and open-weave fabrics have a diaphanous effect, giving them less visual bulk than solid timber and so creating the illusion of space. If wind is an issue for lightweight pieces, consider wrought iron, such as a French-style café table and chairs.

Small garden | Home Beautiful
Sue Stubbs

Shade is essential, but can be as easily delivered with a beautiful tree or vine-covered gazebo as it can with an umbrella, giving you more green bang for your buck.

Small garden | Home Beautiful
Natalie Hunfalvay

Use the height; a green wall or pots hanging on the fence or from the roof give you extra planting space. Look for easy care plants such as succulents for potted plants, as they need more water than those planted in the ground.

Small garden | Home Beautiful
Sue Stubbs

Use interior tricks. Outdoor mirrors, for example, can visually double the space, as well as reflecting greenery and making the zone appear more lush. However make sure they’re placed in such a way as to reflect something beautiful.

Small garden | Home Beautiful
Sue Stubbs

Screen out the world to create an urban oasis or block a less-than-lovely view. Timber or rattan has a soft, rustic look, but equally there are laser-cut steel and plastic patterned ones that have a neat, modern edge, perfect for city chic.

Small garden | Home Beautiful
Sue Stubbs

Mass plantings can help trick the eye into making the space appear larger; with no obvious delineation between plants, the look is more cohesive.

Small garden | Home Beautiful
Simon Whitbread

Paint background walls a dark colour to help them recede; deep shades such as charcoal also help greenery pop.

Small garden | Home Beautiful
Sue Stubbs

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