I think sometimes this is just how things go when you are updating your home: one small change leads to another and another and then all of a sudden, you’re knee deep into a brand new look! (Whoops) And this is essentially what’s happened with our back garden this year. We’d really not intended on doing anything major but after the builders left the area in front of our small extension pretty much obliterated, we realised we needed to address the situation in time for the warmest months of the summer.

I already talked about how we decided to create a brand new deck that sits about halfway down our garden and create a new patio right in front of where the kitchen will be going (you can catch up here) and once that was done, I realised we needed a few more things to fill the space. In our previous home, the garden was easily only a third of the size of this one and so creating different zones in such a large space became my priority.

Anyway, cutting to the chase… here’s what that part of the garden is looking like now and I’ll chat through the changes and additions!

deck with sofa and chairs and string lights with pink accents

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Incredibly, within days of realising we’d really need some additional furniture, accessories and plants, the lovely folks at MADE got in touch with me to see if we needed anything for our garden this year. Don’t get me wrong, here. I know how incredibly fortunate I am to be able to work with brands that allow me to see my dreams into reality and if you have been reading my blog for any length of time, you’ll know I’ve been a fan of the brand for a really long time. The timing really could not have been more perfect and I jumped at the chance to work with them again.

outside living area with decking, chairs and pets with pink accents

I ended up mixing and matching their items with things I already had and purchased other items as well to create a really lovely spot for relaxing on our new deck. As I shared in my mood board post, I wanted to carry the colour scheme of the house outside as well so as you can see, peaches, pinks and greens are the prominent shades. I really think it makes the outside feel more cohesive with the inside and just feels like an extension of my own style.

outdoor sofa with cushions, throws and outdoor rug in pinks and greens

The sofa, coffee table and chairs are ones I’d had for a few years (you might remember them from our old garden) and they are all still going strong but I added in layers of accessories to create more of a living-room-outside look. Cushions and throws soften everything and I purchased that gorgeous pink rug from Rugseller

geometric patterns in pink grey and gold outside living room

I only realised once I’d put it down that I’d created a little geometric triangle theme between the table, the rug and the cushions. I can assure you that was just a happy accident but it all works so nicely together. The pink and mustard geometric cushions and the pink throw are both from MADE.

collection of ourdoor planters in pink and green with outdoor sofa

The planters are all from MADE and in the month or so since I’ve planted everything, it’s all thrived rather nicely in this spot. Big bouncy hydrangea, a little bay tree (which I’m hoping will get bigger over time to create some height here) and that raised planter create such a cute little vignette here. I have to say I am SUPER proud of my little herb garden which includes chives, thyme and lemon balm – it’s utterly thriving.

outdoor planters on deck with herbs and hydrangea

A little tip I learned recently: plant up lavender amongst your herbs. Not only does it give it a bit of extra colour and scent, but they also keep away the slugs! 

decking area in shades of pink and green styled with outdoor plant pots in pink

I’m so in love with these terrazzo planters in my most favourite shade of peachy-salmon-pink. Yum.

outdoor chair detail with pink cushions and hydrangea

pink terrazzo raised planter

teal garden table with pink plants and gold hurricane

To the right of the sofa, I decided to purchase that little teal metal table from Maisons Du Monde just for an added touch of contrast. The little cactus was bought from George at Asda – when I bought it online, I thought it was a lot bigger! Ha! So I popped it here just as a little accessory. 

decked area in garden in pinks and greens with festoon lighting

I also purchased a couple of shepherds hooks as I wanted to hang a string of festoon lighting in this spot. The hooks are the tallest I could find anywhere and they are from Charlies which I later found out is a company that’s based locally here in Shropshire. The festoon lights are from Lights4Fun and they work on solar power so while they aren’t bright, they do add a lovely little twinkle in the evenings.

solar lights and windchime in tree

In the tree, I strung up some solar lanterns (also from Lights4Fun) and I purchased a windchime from my local Wyevale Garden Centres. I’ve never been a huge fan of the really high-pitched tinny windchimes but this one is huge and creates the most wonderful calming dulcet tones when the wind blows. I love it – it makes me just feel so relaxed!

back garden makeover in pink detail shot

Moving to the back of the garden, we created another little seating area – this spot gets the sun first thing in the morning so it’s perfect for a morning cuppa and its the first area that gets shade in the evenings.

firepit at the back of the garden with wicker bistro chairs

I purchased the rattan bistro set from Alfresia and added a little raised firepit that was graciously gifted to me from Charlies.

firepit at the back of the garden with wicker bistro chairs

I love that the firepit is really easy to move around and it’s ‘pre-rusted’ which gives it that lovely warm amber colour. At night, we throw some logs in and with the little twinkling festoon lights in the tree, it’s just the nicest spot to sit with a cold beer.

bistro seating area with fire pit and bengal cat

Yes, of course, Meisha had to get in on the action!

firepit at the back of the garden with wicker bistro chairs

I’m considering the idea of creating a little quarter circle in this corner of the garden with stone tiles at some point in the future but for now, it’s just a lovely little spot as it is.

Finally, the patio area right in front of the kitchen extension has been completed but I’m only showing a couple of pictures here because you really must see this gorgeous dining set that was gifted by MADE!

outdoor dining table with brick wall behind styled with pink and peach colours

I shared this on Instagram so it was shot on a different day to the rest of the pictures you see here but I’m so happy with it. I swear I keep going outside to admire it because it’s so perfect for this space and was exactly what I was looking for to fit this spot. 

outdoor dining set styled with pink and green accents

It comfortably seats 8 but we’ve mostly been just sprawling out on it for now in the evenings and enjoying our dinners alfresco! 

The reason I’m not sharing more of this specific area is simply that it’s not yet done! The back of the house directly to the right of the picture is scheduled to be painted soon, the bed directly in front of the house desperately needs addressing and there’s still a huge pile of soil and aggregate to the left of this shot! Ha! #keepingitreal

We are hoping to build a large raised planter in the next couple of weeks to address at least part of the issue and the painter is scheduled for July. I would also love a rug in this spot as well as some outdoor lighting (once we have our outdoor plug sockets installed). So once I can check some of these jobs off the list, I promise to share more!

Of course, everyone likes a bit of a before and after, right?

before picture of garden

Here’s what this area of the garden looked like just 6 weeks ago!! Ack!!

back garden deck reveal

And this is what it looks like now with the bright sunshine on it! Pretty nice transformation, don’t you think?

I’m really happy with how the garden has been transformed and I just wanted to thank MADE for providing the dining set, planters and some of the textiles, Charlies for the fire pit and Wyevale Garden Centres who gave me a voucher to purchase some of the plants here. I couldn’t share things like this without these wonderful brands supporting me so please do go give them a visit if you’re updating your garden this year.

So now, it’s your turn! What do you think of the garden transformation? Have you been updating your garden this year too? If so, let me know what you’ve done! You know I love hearing from you! :)

Disclaimer: This is not a paid-for post and has not been sponsored but gifted items have been provided in exchange for coverage. As always, I only work with brands I love and would be happy to recommend. Thanks for supporting the brands that support Swoon Worthy.

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UPDATE! I had so many questions in the comments along the lines of “What do you do when it rains?” so I figured I’d update the post to answer!

We’ve had pretty nice weather the last week and that’s set to continue over the next 10 or so days so everything will pretty much stay out! No rain? No problem.

Light rain showers: We have an outhouse attached to the house which we use for storage (it’s better ventilated and insulated than the shed) so if it’s just a few showers, the (non-outdoor) cushions and throws will go in there. All the other sofa cushions and the rug are perfectly fine with light showers and dry quickly.

Heavy rain showers: If we’re getting heavy rain for a few days, we’ll also put all the sofa cushions in the outhouse. It takes us about 2 minutes to gather them up and they are fine to be stored in there until the sun comes back out! The outdoor rug is fine getting wet and is made for all weathers.

Over winter: Everything comes in the house to be stored through winter. I’ll use the non-outdoor cushions and throws in my home (or stored in a cupboard), the sofa cushions are stored underneath both our own bed & the guestroom bed or stored in the loft and the rug will get rolled up and stored in the outhouse. The furniture frames all just get covered with furniture covers!

Hope that helps! :)


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