It’s hardly a surprise that the events of 2020 and 2021 had a huge impact on garden trends and here’s why. For a time, most of us who are fortunate to have a garden found it to be the only place we could safely spend time outdoors.

Time spent commuting and busying ourselves with other commitments has been channelled into making our homes and gardens more inviting. The last 12 months have made way for a rise in outdoor kitchens, herb gardens, garden bars and garden offices.

Uniting all these trends is an innate desire to create a seamless transition between indoor and outdoor living.

This latest blog is a homage to the homes we have installed garden rooms at in Suffolk, Essex, Norfolk and London over the past 12 months.

So, with summer fast approaching, what are the six must-know garden trends this year?

 

The Garden Bar

The garden bar was one of last year’s most popular summer garden trends and has continued into this year. It didn’t surprise us at all to hear that Made.com revealed searches on their site for garden bars increased by 122% in just under a year.

You don’t have to buy a pre-made garden bar though – we’ve seen some impressive home bars upcycled from wooden pallets and scaffolding boards. Pinterest and Etsy are great places to visit if you need some inspiration.

 

Outdoor Pizza Ovens

It’s hard to write about this garden trend without feeling hungry, but there’s a real appetite for stone-baked pizzas. Not only are outdoor ovens built to withstand the test of time, much like our garden rooms, but they’re also a real talking point and a firm favourite with all the family.

Outdoor Kitchens

Accompanying the outdoor pizza oven is the outdoor kitchen, which is one of the biggest summer garden trends this year. If there’s ever a statement piece that embodies ‘outdoor living’, it has to be introducing an area you would typically see indoors, outdoors. It’s clever, functional and brings people together.

Herb Gardens

Here’s one of the most sustainable summer garden trends we love. With more time at home to tend to plants and explore new recipes, there’s been an uptick in people growing their own vegetables and herbs. Pinterest, for instance, reported a 600% increase in searches for homemade garden boxes and small garden DIY ideas for growing vegetables. This is great if you have young children, as we explored in our blog celebrating National Children’s Gardening Week.

Mediterranean Living

We’ve seen lots of weathered coloured pots, potted olive trees, and low-level white rendered walls, as a nod to continental living. With many of us unable to travel abroad, it’s not surprising that Italian and Spanish gardens have fast become one of the top garden trends.

A Stylish Garden Room

We cannot speak for all garden room manufacturers, but here at SMART Garden Offices, we’ve seen a big increase in garden office purchases. The surge in sales has largely been caused by the seemingly permanent switch to hybrid working as employers give more weight to work-life balance.

It’s not just a summer garden trend for large gardens though. We’ve installed purposefully designed garden rooms in some of the smallest London gardens as a way of maximising usable space.

We’ve seen a great deal of interest in all seven of our garden office ranges, from our most affordable Key Studio range (starting at £9,115) to the Ultra Range (starting at £10,930).

Many of our customers are keen to use their stylish garden room for purposes other than just work. They choose to use the space to socialise, spend time with their family outside, indulge in newfound hobbies and exercise. They also make their purchase based on future use too. For what might be a garden office today could well be a future retirement retreat!

Choosing a stylish garden room is an immersive process though and not just one of those fleeting garden trends. Like any big decision, it should be treated as an investment, which is why we encourage people to come and view our garden rooms at our Bury St Edmunds showroom in Suffolk.

We also carry out no-obligation complimentary design consultations. We come and visit you at home and explore your design options with you. Together, we carefully consider how you intend to use your new space, where the natural light falls and the specifications most appeal to you.

Order Your Brochure Now

At SMART, our garden rooms are available in over 60 sizes, making them one of the most adaptable in the market, and most certainly on trend!

All our garden rooms are designed and built for purpose using traditional craftsmanship, CAD/CAM technology and our own unique TuSC® construction method. This means that we can produce a high quality, stylish garden room that can be installed anywhere in Suffolk, Norfolk, Essex and London on-site in a matter of 2-3 days.

To explore all seven ranges (and gather some more garden trend ideas), simply download a copy of our brochure today.