Outdoor Living: Stylish Looks For Summer

As we’re mostly confined to quarters this month, now’s an excellent time to get those outdoor smartening-up plans underway and maybe even start to lay the foundations (both figuratively and literally!) for any exterior renovation projects. If you’re struggling for inspiration however then fear not as we’ve collated some on-trend outdoor living looks – along with the accessories and products you need to pull them off – right here for your delectation…

Wide Open Spaces

These tiles are perfect if you’re a long-term project that needs to take into account a kitchen-dining-terrace area. From a planning perspective it’s a good idea to know pretty much what you want to do with the garden before installing a new kitchen – especially if side or back access to the outside space is tight. Our Dakota Outdoor Grey Riven porcelain large-format slabs can create a seamless link between indoor and outdoor space (they can be used indoors as well as out). The matt riven textured finish means these tiles have an excellent slip rating too. A good choice and fabulous contrast against natural bricks and splashes of greenery.

Very Pale, Very Interesting

We love the choice of these tiles on a large terrace – they blend perfectly with cool cream furniture indoors as well. They’re a confident choice, and our porcelain Maverick Grey outdoor slabs are designed to look like concrete, so they have that industrial, minimalist vibe too. These do come in a darker Anthracite colour variant too, so should you feel like mixing and matching to create contrasting ‘zoned’ areas then you can do so whilst maintaining a consistent style. If you don’t fancy permanently fixing down these tiles – maybe it sounds like too big a job or perhaps you like to chop and change your environment whenever suits – then you can install these (and most outdoor slab tiles) using Adjustable Support Pedestals. Read our handy guide to find out how.

The Perfect Grey Porcelain

Our Dunsen Grey anti-slip floor tiles are another grey concrete-style option that can be used both indoors and out (meaning they’re perfect for extending interior aesthetics to exterior areas such as patios). Don’t forget that the larger the format of the tile, the fewer you’ll use and fewer grout joints will result – perfect for creating that flowing, unbroken look. If you want to emphasise the lines, choose a white grout, if you want to create a more seamless look, match the grout to the tiles. We have several shades of Mapei Grout available – have a browse and match to your tile choices or if you need some further advice, give our customer services guys a shout via the LiveChat function on our website and they’ll be happy to help.

Planning Ahead

Well, getting the best out of your garden and outside spaces is all about the planning – and we have to admit that we’ve all become very enthusiastic about scrolling through all the Spring and Summer garden furnishing and accessory ranges. Hopefully the weather will be reliable enough so that we can all enjoy our outdoor spaces for morning coffees and evening cocktails too! This rather lovely set of outdoor woven furniture will soon be available from the Marks & Spencer Spring-Summer ranges for 2020. If you fancy re-creating that look with some of our outdoor tiles, take a peek at our Axis White Outdoor Slab Tiles.

Stylish Seating

This is an irresistible choice if you want to create a stylish outdoor conversation spot! Just the job for curling up with a G&T as the sun goes down – just add an outdoor fire-pit and some twinkly outdoor lights for an atmospheric evening. Rattan sofa from a selection at Cuckooland

Getting Comfortable

Let’s be honest…some super-trendy garden furniture can be a little bit too angular for comfort! Which is why a few outdoor cushions are always a great little investment for summer evenings and lazy lunches. This is the Merida from John Lewis’ range of garden cushions. It looks great and it’s shower resistant too – always a good thing if you happen to reside in the UK!

Outdoor Log Burner

This is the neat and stylish Brinkworth by Hacienda Firepit from John Lewis – we love this design as it allows an all-around view of your burning logs. And of course, the ash is collected into the bottom tray.

Grand Plans

Planning a dramatic outdoor entertaining area with enough seating for the whole family (plus guests)? Take a look at the collections from Next Home. At the time of writing, they’re not taking any online orders, but hopefully will be back in action soon. We rather like the idea of the Monaco range of all-weather rattan furniture – just the ticket for alfresco dining and entertaining area (and all those cushions are made using shower-resistant fabric of course!).

Conifer, Pendle Hill, Candied Grapefruit, Wiswell | Sadolin

Conifer, Pendle Hill, Candied Grapefruit, Wiswell | Sadolin

In An English Country Garden…

If slabs and paving are a step too far at the moment, perhaps smaller projects such as painting or staining your garden furniture might be more appealing. We’re rather keen on the jewel-like shades in the Sadolin Superdec Satin which has a dense, opaque coverage with a satin finish. Shown here; Conifer for the table, and Pendle Hill (lime green), Candied Grapefruit (pink) and Wiswell (green) for the chairs.

Whether it’s a whole new back garden or just a painted bench you’ve been inspired to create this Spring/Summer, we’d love to have a gander at your pics – hit us up on twitter @TileMountainUKFacebook or tag us on Instagram !

You might also like these posts on the Tile Mountain blog…

Top Five Outdoor Patio Tiles

Outdoor Maintenance Calendar: Which Tasks To Do and When

How to Build an Outdoor Bar In 10 Easy Steps