From finding the right outdoor accessories and lighting to aligning your colour palettes and texture choices, bridging the gap between indoor and outdoor spaces is a great way to explore new avenues of home design, without costly extensions or expansions. 

But how do you create symmetry and seamless cohesion throughout your spaces, and where should you start when it comes to blending design ideas?

Generally, the ‘interior’ feel of outdoor styling often comes from the way you accessorise and dress a space, rather than the furniture within it – but that doesn’t mean you shouldn’t pay attention to the core pieces too. 

Outdoor Sofas, for example, should reflect a similar style, material, colour scheme and overall aesthetic as your indoor sofas. The soft curves, rich colour scheme and rounded edges of the EDDA Corner Sofa can be paired neatly with the informal outdoor MELLOW Sofa, for instance. Or the minimalist, cosy style of the  TIMJAN Sofa could be compared seamlessly to the timeless comfort of the PARDIS Outdoor Sofa from Bizzotto.

We carefully select the perfect bed frames,  dressing tables, rugs, lamps, sofas and dining tables to make our houses feel like homes, and we discover the styles that truly make us happy – which is a feeling this trend aims to expand upon in your outdoor spaces too. 

Notice which colours your home tends to gravitate towards, whether in wood tones, metal finishes, paint colours, fabric choices or soft furnishings. How does texture play a part in your living spaces, do you prefer soft cosy fabrics or sturdier industrial materials? Do you opt for minimalism over maximalism, and do you have a penchant for boho and Scandi styles over colourful and eclectic? 

Similarly, when it comes to choosing your dining tables and outdoor dining sets, even something as simple as a matching wood finish to your interior dining set can create a link between the two. A light ash wood can create an aura of freshness and simplicity in any interior or exterior dining space, for example, whereas a continuing theme of dark wood between each space can leave a sense of elegance and luxury. 

When it comes to shapes, incorporating cohesive furniture styles is another useful way of developing harmony between indoor and outdoor spaces. Opting for round tables in both your dining room and your outdoor dining space, for example, can build a continuous feeling of unity, informality and cosiness - no matter where you choose to dine. Alternatively,  rectangular tables offer themes of refinement, solidity and structure, all of which can be continued from the inside out. 

Many outdoor furniture pieces can also be used both internally and externally, particularly those from Cane-Line - further supporting the blend between inside and out. 

Once you’ve established your core pieces, one of the key ways to create a cohesive flow between interior and exterior spaces is by developing ‘rooms’ out of your furniture. 

By imagining four invisible walls around each separate space in your garden, you can begin to shape and position your furniture within them – for example, grouping a sofa, armchair, coffee table, rug and side table together facing a particular garden feature in the same way you would group them around a television set.  

Integrating the different organic areas of your garden can be a useful tool when it comes to positioning and placing your outdoor furniture too. For dining spaces, utilising a terrace, patio, pergola or paved area can help to create a natural zone that will act as the exterior room, keeping all dining furniture and accessories within that boundary. 

Even creating routes and pathways between each ‘room’ can have an impact on your overarching design, building out the idea of hallways or passageways to reflect the interior layout of your home.  

Finally, one of the most important elements to an indoor/outdoor flow is the cohesion of accessories, decor features, soft furnishings and personal touches. Mirroring the colour palettes, textural feel, size, shape, period and aesthetic theme of decor pieces through your home and garden can build out a solid flow that feels natural and effortless.

Finding an outdoor rug of the same size, style and colour as your indoor lounge rug, for instance, can be a great unifying accessory for an exterior living or relaxation area. Adding a lamp of a matching material, i.e. bamboo, wood, metal, plastic or glass, to one in your living room and a coffee table that would fit perfectly into either your interior or exterior space can add further layers of intentional design planning that can really make an impact. 

Additionally, think about your soft furnishings –  throws for chilly nights, cushions, pouffes, footstools and bean bags. Choose fabrics and colours that reflect those inside the house and plan your arrangement of them to match your interior lounge areas. Even your outdoor decor pieces can be made to feel cohesive, considering any coffee table accessories, faux plants, ornaments, tapestries and wall hangings as unifying elements in this harmonious flow. 

Creating a seamless journey between your indoor and outdoor spaces can be an intimidating challenge, and one that can take a lot of planning, creativity and, considering our unpredictable Swiss weather, some very good timing. With a carefully curated range of interior and exterior products available at Milola, we can help you to find the perfect furniture for your home and your garden.

Take a look at our Outdoor Collection today for some more inspiration or drop into our  Showroom for a visit!