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Creating a perfect indoor-outdoor living space with Charlie Albone

By Olivia Shead •

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Creating a home with the perfect indoor-outdoor living space is high on everybody’s wish list. But turning your ideas into a reality can be tricky. It is important to remember that contrasting landscapes and architecture don’t make a seamless property, rather it is vital that the inside and outside of your property marry together to give your home a real sense of flow. Below are five ways you can achieve this.

Charlie Albone reno addict
Our resident expert Charlie

1. Plant material

Choosing the right plant material for your garden sets the tone for the space. Formal gardens look best with hedging plants such as Buxus and Viburnum combined with classical flowering plants like Hydrangea and Anemones. Tropical gardens require plants like Gingers and Heliconias to give life to the textural greens of palms and bamboos

2. Scale and proportion

Getting the scale and proportion of your outbuildings, hard surfaces (such as paving and decks) and plant material right is vital in creating a house that sits in the garden comfortably. Look at your property’s architecture for this. If you have chunky posts in the house then repeating them in your pergolas or cabanas will make the whole space feel like it was built as one.

Indoor-outdoor-living-plan
Credit: Home Designing

3. Colour

Colour is a fantastic way to bring the inside out and vise-versa, however it’s very important to check the colours you have selected work in both light settings. Internal artificial light has a very different effect on colour than external natural light. Just as you would paint various areas of a room a colour before committing to it, you need to do the same outdoors. I have also found when trying to match an internal colour to go for double strength outside.

4. Material repetition

Material repetition is a great way to create continuity between indoor and outdoor spaces. The obvious example is to carry the internal floor material out to the verandah or deck as this lengthens the ‘road’ the eye travels upon to create a feeling of additional space. The indoor flooring can also be used in other areas of the garden, repeating the flooring around the pool area or a private reading space will drag the features of the house out into the garden. Additionally, repeating materials outside doesn’t mean you have to use them in the same treatment, for example timber species used in the flooring can be replicated in the outdoor furniture.

classic-indoor-outdoor-living-space-chaise-lounges-glass-room-divider-amusing-parquet-flooring-ideas
Credit: Nobswall

5. Positioning

When designing an outside space for your property, remember that it will be seen from the inside of the house, so position your features in prominent sight lines from the home’s windows and doors. Use the windows of the property as a picture frame for your outside features, as this will extend the eye line deep into the outer regions of the property, making it feel bigger.

For more on Charlie.

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March 23, 2015

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Brand new furniture in an 1877 house and IT WORKS! Brand new furniture in an 1877 house and IT WORKS!

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Good luck!

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>>>Swipe for the transformation! 😮 From cold t >>>Swipe for the transformation! 😮

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Comment the season you THINK you are below (spring, summer, autumn or winter) and I'll send you the link to the quiz so you can double check!

Fun!

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Tag a friend who'll be coveting the TM7! It's available from next week!

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Awards are always a great place to get inspo. Chec Awards are always a great place to get inspo. Check out the kitchen and bathroom of the year winners in this month's @hia_au @csrdwelling Housing Awards. There's more winning homes and rooms to check out in our blog post on the homepage, via link in bio or stories now. 

Kitchen by @build.theory Bathroom by @birdblackdesign and @aspire_constructions 

#hiaawards #hiaawards2025 #awardwinninghomes #australianinteriordesign
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About Olivia Shead

When she's not writing for Interiors Addict, Olivia is now a TV and radio news producer. She's a journalism graduate of UTS Sydney.

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Reader Interactions

Comments

  1. James Mason says

    March 24, 2015 at 12:48 pm

    Great advice Charlie

    We are about to start landscaping our place and the size of the pots was a helpful tip!

  2. adelicia says

    April 13, 2018 at 10:37 am

    the design is simple but has a very extraordinary impression,
    the feel of warmth seen from the blend of color.

    21 Best Modern Curtain Designs 2016 Ideas and Colors For Your Home

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