Lazy Susan Furniture » Design

Lazy Susan’s top 10 garden design books

Lazy Susan — Tue, 10 Jan 2012 09:26:29 +0000

Designing a garden from scratch can be a challenge – and it’s often difficult to know where to start. Even redesigning an existing garden, a part of the garden or just one flower bed can prove tricky. And, at the end of the day, we garden because we love it. But be honest, aren’t there times when you just can’t face dragging out the hose? Well I guarantee that these garden design books will help you add the wow factor to your garden, giving you that little jolt of inspiration we sometimes need. These publications are just a few of our favourites and they’ll help to give your garden a fresh, new look with practical, comprehensive guides that include everything from choosing a style, drawing up plans to selecting the best plants and features. All of them are fully illustrated, and they range from classical Italian and English country cottage to modern and minimal. They are a great starting point and will help you to select the right look for your garden.

Futurescapes: Designers for Tomorrow’s Outdoor Spaces
by Tim Richardson

Format: Hardcover – Released 22/08/11

Hands down our favourite book of 2011 and also a worth entry…

The latest trends and key components of good patio design

Lazy Susan — Mon, 10 Oct 2011 10:47:42 +0000

Not so many years back, the word ‘patio’ would’ve probably made people think of a small square slab of concrete or pavers on which you placed a rusty looking BBQ and a few discoloured PVC chairs. Oh how times change… Over the last decade, at Lazy Susan we’ve seen first hand how British homeowners have started to embrace the concept of ‘outdoor living’ and the patio has become synonymous with the creation of stylish outdoor spaces that flow with the home. We might not have taken the ‘outdoor room’ concept as far as the American’s who in many states such as California have the climate to furnish their outdoor spaces with fully functioning outdoor kitchens, but we have seen significant growth in the sales of fire pits, stylish water features and garden furniture that would look equally at home in an your living room.

This is why when thinking about your outdoor space, we are encouraging our customers to use some of the key components of good interior design, especially if you want to ‘bring the indoors outside’ as they say in the trade. With that in mind, we wanted to take a look at some of latest trends…

How to make your new garden design all go according to plan

Lazy Susan — Mon, 12 Sep 2011 09:12:59 +0000

Designing a garden, like anything, gets a little easier the more you practice. There are many things an experienced designer will process on auto-pilot as they work through all the various elements that are required to create a new garden design. Firstly, there’s those elements that you can’t change – such as sun direction and shade, soil conditions (although to some extent these can be improved by adding nutrients etc), and the position of any existing buildings etc. Then there is the new elements that you want to use within the space – things like a water feature, containers, garden decor, stone patio or decking. And finally there’s the equally important fixed design considerations such as driveways, paths, garden sheds, clotheslines and storage – the bits that make the garden work if you like.

The key to a good practical garden deign is traffic flow around the outdoor space as this sets the scene for a lot of important design decisions. An ill-considered choice at this point can lead to a garden that doesn’t flow or function efficiently. Mistakes are costly to rectify once you’ve installed the garden, so before you get carried away with the pretty stuff like…

The latest landscaping trends

Lazy Susan — Tue, 09 Aug 2011 11:58:37 +0000

The economic downturn is having a dramatic effect on the way we look at landscaping and gardening. Expensive water gardens and exotic plants are becoming a thing of the past. Less wasteful, more sustainable landscaping practices certainly make sense as well as permanent installations, which add value to your home and are enjoyed for many years to come. Today’s homeowner basically wants a colourful, vibrant, unique and sustainable landscaped property. Gardens in small spaces are big. Even the most humble backyards are being converted into an outdoor oasis. Whilst we’ve seen a dramatic increase in container gardens as they can offer variety and flexibility. And it is also important to focus on front garden landscaping too, after all, is there a more perfect way to show off your home by putting water features, fences, courtyards and patios etc out the front for all to see. So let Lazy Susan guide you through the minefield of the latest landscaping trends, with a few of our personal favourites…

From clustering multiple pots, vertical gardening, placing pots in your flowerbeds, to using a landscape professionals to design, plant and maintain a more cost effective yet stunning garden, people might be looking at ways to…

Garden décor will transform your outdoor space

Lazy Susan — Tue, 09 Aug 2011 11:56:29 +0000

Not too long ago, you could easily tell who’d been relaxing in their garden in the UK by the red marks left on their thighs by nasty white plastic garden chairs that were dragged out at the first hint of sunshine. However, cheap and nasty garden furniture is a thing of the past and advances in outdoor materials and fabrics now mean that your garden furniture is fully weather, water, odour and fade resistant. Lazy Susan is testament to this and all these improvements have created a boom in the UK garden furniture and accessory market. The variety in garden seating and entertaining has turned into something more than simple afterthoughts purchased because we need somewhere to sit and enjoy the sun. DIY and a new breed of interior designers are now creating the outdoor living room with plush outdoor sofas and decorative throw cushions that could just as easily match your modern indoor decor as well as they blend with your garden. And no living room is complete without lighting – functional or mood – or even a kitchen appliance or two if you’re feeling really brave.

The annual £500 million UK garden furniture and accessories industry is…

Big ideas for your small outdoor space

Lazy Susan — Tue, 12 Jul 2011 09:14:02 +0000

Got a small garden, yard, patio or balcony but not sure how to make the best of it? Well fear not, you can turn your outdoor space into your own personal mini oasis with these great ideas from Lazy Susan. You don’t need acres of land to create a glorious garden. Whether you want to use your little plot for work, rest or play, we’ve got a host of small-scale ideas that’ll help you maximize your outdoor space. Summer will be gone in the blink of an eye, so now’s the time to spend evenings and weekends enjoying the outdoors and with the perfect garden you won’t need to even leave the comfort of your own home. Even if you have a small city backyard garden or patio, there are still plenty of ways to enjoy nature, grow something green and entertain outdoors and Lazy Susan is here to share a few of our tips for maximizing patio space.

Probably not something a garden furniture company should be saying too loudly, but the key with a small outdoor space is to minimize your furniture if you have a small garden. We’re not gonna be very popular if we tell you to…

Planning your new patio

Lazy Susan — Tue, 12 Jul 2011 09:01:35 +0000

Patios are one of the best and easiest ways to extend your living space. If done effectively they can blur the boundaries between house and garden, thus allowing you to make the most of both by creating what the UK media seemed to have dubbed an ‘outdoor room’. In the cooler climate of the UK they give us the opportunity to easily step outdoors and enjoy the available sunshine as when we get it. A well designed patio will provide you with an area for outdoor dining and entertaining family and friends, or a safe place for your children to play.

If you enjoy gardening or just like a garden splashed with colour but you simply don’t have the time for lawns and borders etc, then a patio is the perfect location for a container garden as they’ll provide the perfect setting for pots and planters. There are so many advantages to having a patio and as a garden furniture company, it is no surprise we’re big fans as they’re ideal for our garden furniture. However, there are a few pitfalls and it is possible to invest a lot of time and money in creating a patio that just doesn’t work for you…

How to bring indoor style outdoors

Lazy Susan — Tue, 07 Jun 2011 10:16:14 +0000

Relaxing outdoors with family and friends on a warm summer night, listening to the crackling of the nearby outdoor firepit and dinner sizzling on the BBQ just can’t be beat. It is also the reason why so many Britons are turning sections of their gardens into luxurious outdoor living spaces. As the trend of bringing the outdoors indoors gathers pace in the interior magazines, here at Lazy Susan we’re also seeing a big move towards bringing the indoors outdoors – and so was born the creation of what has been termed (probably by the Americans) as the outdoor room. However, while the temperate climate of say the West Coast of America provides the opportunity to soak it up and appreciate it on a regular basis, here in the UK we have to snatch those opportunities on the rare weekends they come along.

Although saying all that, yet again, the Met office are predicting that 2011 will be the hottest summer ever recorded (ever!) and while things have started pretty well with a nice mild sunny spring, I’ll not hold my breath. So while the outdoor room in the warm parts of the globe revolves around pretty much achieving full time outdoor…

Simplify your garden and simplify your life

Lazy Susan — Mon, 04 Apr 2011 07:37:56 +0000

Simplicity and gardening don’t usually go hand in hand and many people will think is it possible, practical or even that realistic? Well Lazy Susan would have to the answer is yes. But like everything else these days, it all depends, although we like to think we’ve got things down to a fine art in our showroom garden. We need to keep it looking as good as possible all the time, but we have a business to run and can’t spend all day tending our plants. Gardening requires work, its as simple as that. You can spend hours deciding where to plant trees, shrubs and flowers, more hours making sure insects, diseases and weeds are kept at bay, and even more hours on top of that just moving plants around, trying to find the perfect location and the perfect combination that gives you that wow factor.

On one hand, gardening can be viewed as simply digging a simple hole, popping a plant in it and calling it a day. It’s not guaranteed, but it works OK for some plants. What’s annoying is when it works for the novice and not your seasoned gardeners who will profess that their experience and…

The importance of garden décor

Lazy Susan — Tue, 11 Jan 2011 14:18:17 +0000

Many people don’t really pay that much attention to their outdoor space, when in fact your garden or a patio is just another extension to the house – another room if you like. It is important that the rest of the house décor influences you to décorate your garden. For example, a Japanese garden will go well with a house that has been décorated with the minimalist look, while a cottage garden will go well with the country like house or bungalow. There are many garden décor ideas you can gather from looking at images on the Internet, magazines or the myriad of gardening programs/channels on TV. At lazy Susan we always tell people to just try and incorporate accessories that you think will ‘fit’ in your garden and complement the style of your home. For example, a classic Victorian outdoor garden clock while a little on the unusual side to many will add a touch of interest to a cottage garden, while a good contemporary garden mirror will make a small city garden look twice as big. Just make sure that you plan your outdoor areas well before venturing into any big changes… It will be worth it in…