How to Design a Garden You’ll Actually Use — Not Just Admire
One of the biggest mistakes I see in garden design isn’t poor materials or planting — it’s designing for a lifestyle that doesn’t really exist.
It’s surprisingly easy to do. Magazines, social media, and showroom displays are full of aspirational outdoor spaces: pergolas, outdoor kitchens, firepits, statement furniture. They look beautiful. They photograph well. And they quietly influence how we think our gardens should be used.
But before thinking about any of that, I always encourage clients to step back and ask a much simpler question:
How do we actually use our garden right now — and what do we genuinely need from it?
When you answer that honestly, the design becomes far clearer.
🧭 Start with Real Life, Not Aspirations
Every successful outdoor living space begins with understanding day-to-day use, not idealised scenarios.
Think about the ordinary moments rather than special occasions:
How do we move through the garden as a family?
Where do we naturally step out from the house?
What do we do outside on a normal weekday — not a perfect summer weekend?
What views of the garden do we have from the house?
For most families, around 80% of garden use comes from simple, everyday activities:
stepping outside with a plate of food and a drink
sitting with a coffee to get some air and quiet away from screens
children playing on the lawn, using a trampoline, or needing a small chill-out space
looking out the window whilst washing up
practical needs like storage, access, and circulation
When a garden is designed around this 80%, it starts to work effortlessly. You don’t need to plan to use it — it becomes part of daily life.
☕ The Small Moments Matter Most
Some of the most-used spaces in a garden are also the simplest.
A chair positioned to catch the morning light.
A bench tucked away from noise and movement.
A small terrace just outside the kitchen door.
These aren’t grand gestures — they’re daily rituals. And when designed well, they get used far more often than large, formal entertaining spaces that require effort, preparation, or perfect weather.
In my experience, gardens succeed when they invite you outside without asking anything in return.
🧺 Storage, Space & Decluttering
It’s not glamorous, but it’s essential.
Before adding features, it’s worth asking a few practical questions:
What storage do we really need?
Could we declutter instead of building bigger?
Does the shed need to be as large — or as central — as it is?
Over time, gardens can quietly fill up with structures that once felt necessary but now simply take up space. But it is not just space, due to their height they can have an imposing characteristic making them a heavy fixture in the garden. Clarifying storage needs early often frees up room for living, rather than allowing buildings and clutter to dominate the layout.
Sometimes the best design move isn’t adding something new — it’s removing what’s no longer needed.
✨ The Other 20%: Aspirations
Once everyday use is clearly defined, you can turn your attention to the aspirational elements — the features we love the idea of:
larger entertaining areas
outdoor kitchens or pizza ovens
hot tubs or Jacuzzis
summer houses
These can be wonderful additions — if they’re used often enough to justify the space, cost, and maintenance they bring with them.
I always encourage clients to pause and ask:
Will we genuinely use this — or do we just like the idea of it?
There’s no right or wrong answer here — only an honest one. For some households, these features become central to how they live. For others, they quietly fade into the background, used a handful of times a year.
Understanding which camp you fall into makes all the difference.
I have often seen clients make large investments on these luxury items, to use them just a few times a year. Ask yourself…
How many pizzas can l order for delivery for the cost of an oven?
How many visits to a spa can l have for the cost of a Jacuzzi in your garden?
🪑 Smaller, Intimate, and Multi-Functional
In many gardens, smaller, well-considered spaces outperform larger, rigid ones.
A compact area that allows you to:
eat with a few friends on a Friday night
pull chairs around a table for a relaxed BBQ
sink into a sofa at the end of the evening
Add generous planting, a small water feature, gentle lighting — and you’ve created something flexible, inviting, and easy to live with.
No fuss.
No over-design.
Just a space that works.
These are often the gardens people tell me they “didn’t realise they were missing”.
🕰️ Good Design Doesn’t Date
I’ve always been a fan of Habitat furniture. In fact, I still own two pieces I bought around 25 years ago — and they look just as relevant today as they did then.
That’s good design.
Simplicity.
Clean lines.
A touch of elegance.
When applied to gardens, these principles create outdoor spaces that don’t chase trends. They age gracefully, settle into their surroundings, and often look better as the years pass.
Busy layouts, overly complex shapes, and too many materials tend to date quickly. Calm, considered design rarely does.
✨ If You Ask Me…
The best outdoor living spaces aren’t the biggest or the most expensive — they’re the ones you step into without thinking.
Design for how you live now.
Allow space for how you might live later.
And keep things simple, flexible, and human.
That’s how gardens become part of everyday life — not just something you admire from the kitchen window.
