While some may think of landscape design as simply laying down new stone pathways with a pleasing aesthetic nature, or creating a colourful, attractive garden, the art of landscape design can be much more intricate and complex.
Ranging in scope from big picture ideas to small details, landscape design is an artistic tradition that combines pleasing aesthetic features with natural and functional elements, creating a cohesive whole. In contemporary landscape practice, it bridges the gap between garden design and landscape architecture, enhancing your outdoor space for year-long enjoyment.
The principles of landscape design are based on mathematical and scientific guidelines and tools used to create comfortable, pleasing, and attractive landscapes, such as order, unity, proportion and repetition.
Proportion for example, refers to the size of a specific object in relation to other objects used in the landscape design.
In Queensland, cooler months provide the perfect opportunity to transform the landscape of your outdoor space, so by the time spring and summer roll around, you’ve got a fully livable space ready to be shared and enjoyed as an extension of your home.
Here at InnovaScape, we’ve compiled 5 simple, yet effective landscape design ideas that we’ve used to transform our clients’ outdoor living spaces.
Landscape Design Idea # 1: Bringing the Indoors Out
Bringing the indoors out allows you to enjoy the outdoors without giving up the comfort of features in interior living spaces.
One of the elements of landscape design used to achieve this is the use of thoughtfully designed outdoor lighting that can lend a wonderfully warm ambience to your outdoor space. This could include:
- Subtle downlights on stairs
- Adding drama via up-lighting on a planted urn
- Adding downlights on a path leading to a glowing swimming pool.
- And so much more!
Landscape lighting adds dimension and enhances your ability to enjoy your outdoor living space to the maximum.
Landscape Design Idea # 2: Getting Inspiration from your Home’s Interior
Just like a great floor plan, a great landscape layout allows you to flow through space while holding you in its strong presence. Landscape designers often look to the interior design and architecture of a home when designing outdoor layouts. The views from the interior, the shape and design of the furniture, and the colours in a home must all relate to the outdoor scene.
For example, contemporary living and dining terraces surrounding a central garden with patterned stone and grass will provide structured views from the windows and doors of a home, upstairs as well as downstairs.
Interior colours can also be extended to the outdoors via colourful foliage or flowers.
Landscape Design Idea # 3: Bringing in a Water Feature
Used as a design element in landscaping, water, with its sensual nature, can provide multiple effects. Considered the basic source of life, it expresses movement, colour, and sound as it captures and bends light.
In a landscape setting its location and use is best suited for close human interaction that allows it to meld with the senses. Ponds, streams, and fountains are all ways to incorporate a water feature into a landscape.
Landscape Design Idea # 4: Livening up a Landscape with Hedges and Plants
In landscape design, balance and contrast are used to add interest to a layout. Matching plants combined with stone can provide a clean look and scalloped hedges can offset the weight of a brick wall. Colourful plants and flowers in shaped beds will bring a sense of the warm indoors to an outdoor space. Creating accent points with tall trees offset by low elements like benches or sculptures is paramount in a great landscape design.
Landscape Design Idea # 5: Warming up the Atmosphere with Custom Fire Pits
Fire pits are the latest trend for people who love to bring the inside luxuries of living to the outdoors. A fire pit can extend the season as well as day time spent outside and adds a lot of entertainment potential to a garden.
Whether you have a small outdoor space or acres of room, good landscaping design can extend your living space by turning your boring outdoor space into a wonderful place for relaxation and entertainment.
And there you have it, 5 simple, yet effective design ideas, that can completely transform your outdoor living space.
If you would like personalised recommendations on landscape design tailored to your needs, simply contact us today for a complimentary consultation with InnovaScape founder David North.