The Good Design Journal
Let’s Get Your Outdoor Space Spring Ready
Good weather is persuasive. One warm September evening and outside is suddenly where you want to be.
After months of shorter days, staying out there for a few hours feels new again. The longer you stay, the more the setup matters. A chair has to feel good through dinner, and once daylight fades, you need light that lets you keep using the space.
And if outside is about to get a lot more use, now’s the time to get it spring ready. Here’s what to put on your list.
Plan to stay a while.
The first warm afternoon after winter can turn a quick sit outside into an hour before you notice. Once you’re spending longer out there, comfort becomes obvious, and the things you bring with you need somewhere nearby. That’s when a chair, side table and rug stop reading as separate pieces and begin to shape where you spend the afternoon.
FERM LIVING Dapple Lounge Chair w/ Arms, Dark Chocolate
An outdoor chair gets tested differently when you’re in it for an hour. The Dapple Lounge Chair has a reclined seat and armrests that support a relaxed sitting position over a longer stretch of time. Its powder-coated steel frame is made for outdoor use, and the chairs can be stacked when you want to clear the area.
FERM LIVING Level Side Table, Cashmere
Staying put is easier when the drink or book you brought outside can stay close too. The Level Side Table gives you two surfaces beside the chair, with room on top for whatever you’re using now and another shelf below. Later in the evening, the same surface can hold a portable lamp once daylight fades. FERM LIVING recommends bringing the table under cover after use, as prolonged exposure to the elements can cause rust.
FERM LIVING Norte Outdoor Rug, Natural
A rug gives the furniture around it a clear boundary. On a balcony or terrace, placing the Norte beneath the chair and side table marks out the part of the space being used for sitting, which becomes especially useful once the outdoor area is back in regular use. It’s made from recycled PET yarn and intended for outdoor settings.
When You Know Where the Lamp Will Stay
Portable lighting is useful while placement is still flexible. However, once you know a console or sideboard needs light every evening, a corded lamp can take up more space and spread light across a wider part of the room.
This is where scale matters. The lamp needs to relate to the surface beneath it while leaving room for the objects used there every day.
BLACK BLAZE Ink Dish, Calacatta Viola
Sometimes the storage problem is no bigger than the things emptied from a pocket.
The BLACK BLAZE Ink Dish gives jewellery or keys a fixed position on a console or bedside table. Its 11cm square marble form contains a shallow circular well, so the boundary remains obvious even on a crowded surface. Calacatta Viola veining changes from piece to piece, giving each dish a different pattern.
Move dinner outdoors.
Eating outside usually means a few extra trips through the back door. Once the table is set and everyone has sat down, the appeal of going back inside for the next round drops quickly. This is where the pieces you carry with you matter as much as the furniture already outside.
EVA SOLO Liquid Lounge Serving Tray
The easiest way to cut down the back-and-forth is to carry more in one trip. EVA SOLO’s Liquid Lounge Serving Tray has deep-set handles that give you a secure grip when it’s loaded, with enough room for a round of drinks or whatever needs to make its way from kitchen to table. The stainless-steel form also means the tray looks at home once it’s put down, so there’s no rush to clear it away.
FERM LIVING Ripple Long Drink Glasses, Clear (Set of 4)
Spring is also a good excuse to bring the glassware you enjoy using indoors out with you. The Ripple Long Drink Glasses come as a set of four, with each 300ml glass mouth-blown into a mould and finished with the vertical ripples that define the collection. As the daylight changes through the evening, those ridges catch it differently, giving the glass itself a little more presence on the table.
Stay outside after sunset.
A spring dinner can begin in daylight and finish well after the sun has gone. By then, the question is less about lighting the entire outdoor area and more about putting light close to where you’re spending the evening. Portable outdoor lighting lets you do exactly that, with no permanent position deciding where everyone has to sit.
FATBOY Bolleke Lamp, D20cm, Light Grey
If the table is already busy, the light can come from above. Bolleke hangs from its rubber loop, so a suitable hook or parasol can put light over the area you’re using. It’s waterproof for outdoor use, and the rechargeable battery runs for up to 24 hours, giving you plenty of time before anyone needs to call it a night.
&TRADITION Flowerpot Portable Lamp VP9, Chrome-plated
For a covered outdoor table, keeping the light at table height makes sense when dinner is carrying on after sunset. The Flowerpot VP9 is approved for sheltered outdoor settings and has three brightness levels, so the light can change as the evening gets darker. Its familiar Verner Panton silhouette also gives the table something to look at long before you switch it on.
Don’t forget the plants.
If you’re getting the outdoor area ready for spring, the plants deserve a look too. A pot can change where greenery sits in the space, while regular watering becomes part of the routine again as you spend more time outside.
FERM LIVING Hourglass Flower Pot
The Hourglass Flower Pot gives a larger plant enough presence to sit alongside outdoor furniture instead of disappearing behind it. At 59cm high, it can hold its own beside a lounge chair or at the edge of a terrace, and the blackened metal has been treated for outdoor use. A drainage hole with a rubber cap also gives excess water somewhere to go when the pot is used outside.
DESIGNSTUFF VIAH Watering Can
Once the pots are in place, watering is the part you’ll come back to. The VIAH Watering Can has a narrow spout for directing water where you want it, with a timber handle that gives you control as you pour. Keep it indoors between uses: the care instructions specify that the watering can itself is not for outdoor use.
Your Spring-Ready Questions, Answered
How do I make a small outdoor area more usable?
Measure what is left once the door can open fully and you have a clear path through the space. That usable footprint is what your furniture has to work within.
Then decide what you want to spend time doing outside. If it’s somewhere to sit with a drink, one comfortable chair and a side table may give you more use than filling the area with a complete outdoor setting. Look for pieces that keep the floor plan open, such as a compact table with additional storage below or lighting that can move with you.
Once everything is in position, test the space by using it. You should be able to sit down, get up and walk through without moving furniture first.
What can I use for outdoor lighting if I don’t have a power point?
Rechargeable portable lighting is one of the simplest options because it doesn’t require fixed wiring or access to an outdoor socket. The important part is choosing the light according to what you need to see.
For dinner, place the light close enough to illuminate the tabletop and the people sitting around it. If you mainly want light beside a lounge chair, a smaller table lamp may be sufficient. A hanging rechargeable lamp can keep the tabletop free if you have a suitable place above to suspend it.
Check the product’s outdoor rating before leaving any portable lamp exposed to weather. Portable does not automatically mean suitable for outdoor use.
Can I leave an outdoor rug outside in the rain?
An outdoor rating tells you the rug is made from materials suited to exterior use, but the surface underneath it matters too. Water that remains trapped beneath a rug can slow drying and create conditions for mould or mildew, which is exactly the problem that comes up repeatedly in outdoor-rug discussions.
Put the rug somewhere water can drain away, and check underneath it after heavy rain. If it stays wet for long periods, lift the rug so both the rug and the surface below can dry. Always follow the care instructions for the material you have, particularly before storing it for an extended period.
Do I need to bring outdoor furniture and cushions inside when it rains?
Check the care instructions for the exact piece. Outdoor furniture can have very different limits even when two products are both sold for exterior use.
Cushions need particular attention because water can soak through the outer fabric and remain in the filling. If heavy rain is expected, storing them somewhere dry or using a suitable furniture cover can reduce the amount of drying and cleaning afterwards. Reddit discussions show this is a common frustration, especially for people who use their outdoor area frequently and don’t want to carry cushions back and forth every day.
For furniture itself, follow the manufacturer’s instructions on exposure and storage. Powder coating or an outdoor rating doesn’t automatically mean a piece should remain uncovered through every season.
Now, get outside.
Getting your outdoor space spring ready comes down to making it somewhere you’ll use when the weather turns good. Somewhere you’re happy to sit for a while, with the things you need close by and light once the sun goes down.
Then the warm evening arrives, and you’re ready for it.
