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Ruth’s ideas for your outdoor living space

Ruth’s ideas for your outdoor living space

May 8th, 2025

Little Greene

Painting your exteriors is one of the simplest ways to protect, weatherproof and add durability to the outside of your home. Introducing colour to your exteriors can also extend your living space outdoors, bringing both beauty and functionality.

Discover inspiring ideas from our Creative Director, Ruth to create an outdoor living space that will transform your home exterior…

Have colour confidence outdoors

One of the best ways to transform your exteriors is by selecting bold and impactful colours that will instantly add personality to your outside space. Ruth suggests taking inspiration from your interior colour palette by embracing the same colour confidence in your outside space too.

She writes: “It’s fantastic to see a shift in the use of colour for outdoor spaces. Whilst colour schemes are often in keeping with a property’s period, many are embracing the use of colour to create characterful, statement exteriors.”

“The colour confidence we have seen in recent years within interiors is certainly impacting choices in outdoor areas too. Rather than being treated separately, we are seeing interior design schemes and the use of colour being taken outside, extending the colour palette within the home to create a sense of flow.”

For impact, paint outside walls in deep, richly coloured hues, and accessorise with ceramics, plantings and furniture to achieve a contemporary look. Or for a simple way to enliven your outside space, introduce vibrant shades on your garden furniture and exterior doors. Bright, playful hues like Pale Lime, Marine Blue and Indian Yellow will bring year-round joy and design interest.

Read our guide to painting garden furniture.

Impactful colours

Embrace natural hues in your exteriors

Ruth writes: “Exterior decorating trends are very much following those we are seeing in interiors, with rich, warm, brown-based tones and earthy natural colours being embraced alongside more traditional coastal blues and sea greens.”

Earthy hues naturally complement exterior settings. They sit comfortably amongst greenery and botanical elements to create a scheme that feels very harmonious and easy on the eye. Our much-loved powder pink, Masquerade, is an elegant choice to complement natural wood, as well as calming neutrals like Rolling Fog, Lute and Clay.

Earthy hues

Green is the colour of nature, making it a failsafe choice for exterior projects. Gentle, muted greens are simple to incorporate on your outdoor walls and woodwork for beautiful, timeless scheme. Alternatively, Ruth suggests using darker shades of green that will blend in with the verdant surroundings.

“The use of forest, emerald and leaf greens such as ‘Hopper’, ‘Goblin’ and ‘Mid Azure Green’ in exteriors is on the rise, with transitional spaces and garden areas being drenched in glorious greens. By using green as a backdrop to planting, you can extend and enhance the feeling of being enveloped by the natural world.”

Explore Greens

Deep green

Maximise connection with the outside world

At this time of year, many of us are seeking ways to spend more time outdoors. This creates the perfect opportunity to refresh our interior spaces, so they feel more connected to our outside environment. Ruth writes: “As well as the use of exterior colour that complements our natural surroundings, we are seeing interior design schemes that maximise the power of exterior views to draw in the soothing qualities of the outdoors.”

Consider how your use of colour can create the feeling of being surrounded by the tranquillity of nature inside your home. Ruth recommends incorporating soft greens and earthy neutrals into interior spaces, as well as thinking about ways you can elevate exterior views.

She writes: “From the literal framing of leafy foliage with blacks and dark greys on interior window frames, to the use of gentle stone and delicate green tones such as Portland Stone, Kitchen Green and Green Stone to create a sense a flow from the outdoors, nature’s greens are being incorporated and elevated within both interior and exterior schemes.”

Discover how to bring nature indoors with natural colour palettes.