How to design your outdoor room

To be able to properly plan the design of your outdoor room, you need to know how big a space you're working with. This will help you decide what you can fit in the space and where it will go. 

Sketch out a plan of how you want your outdoor room to look. Think about what you want in your room, how big it is and then mark it out on the floor to make sure it fits. Also, think about what you want to use your outdoor room for, whether it's cooking, eating and entertaining or simply relaxing. 

This will help you decide how much you can spend on each new piece for your outdoor room, whether it's on a bbq, pizza oven, furniture, plants, artwork or lighting. A small budget doesn't mean you can't have a great outdoor room, just be creative and clever.

Consider location and size when it comes to outdoor furniture.  Will the furniture be undercover or exposed to the weather? Knowing this will help you choose what your furniture will be made of – wood, glass, granite or a range of other materials.  When it comes to size, how many people are you going to be seating when you entertain and how large is your space?

When designing your outdoor room, consider protection from the sun and wind. This might be by building feature walls, or installing alfresco blinds, awnings or shade sails.

There are two types of lighting to consider for your outdoor room, task or feature. Task lighting, is practical lighting for over the bbq, pizza oven and dining table. Feature lighting, highlights aspects of your outdoor living area like water features, plants and trees and artwork.

Just like inside your home, you need lots of storage outside. Whether it's for soft furnishings that you need to protect from the weather, wood for the pizza oven or cooking and cleaning utensils for your bbq.

With a range of different heating options to choose from, don't leave them out when planning your outdoor room. An efficient heating system will increase the amount of time you can spend outside.