13 of the Most Colorful Outdoor Spaces We’ve Seen this Summer
Color can (and does!) enliven interior rooms of our homes, but it also can uplift and refresh our exterior spaces, too. The best part about color is that it doesn’t matter the size of your outdoor living area—you can infuse vibrant hues throughout a patio, balcony, or backyard with plants, pots, furniture, outdoor rugs, furniture, and even art. The 13 open-air lounge spaces seen here have more than just being incredibly dreamy in common; they all use color in ways that are worth mimicking in your own home.
This retro beachside home in Australia is all kinds of cute and colorful on the inside, but the front porch is a cheery space to spend time in, too. The house’s dark exterior paint color is the perfect canvas for bright pops of pink and purple flowers, while lots of gold and yellow hues show up in cozy furniture.
This house in Australia is an amazing example of how to take dark and dated architecture and completely transform it through vibrant art and decor. Natasha Webb didn’t stop at only energizing the indoor spaces, though. The outdoor living room is stuffed with comfy seating, lots of throw pillows, and more graphic art.
As someone who lives in a swamp (New Orleans), I’m always curious about how people are able to decorate their outdoor areas with such cute (but fabric-covered) things, but Houston-based Pam has a great solution. She simply pulls out her colorful rugs and pillows out on to her patio when she wants to lounge outdoors.
You don’t have to have a backyard or patio to be able to enjoy a colorful outdoor space, as this Atlanta house exemplifies beautifully. Hot pink flamingos complement a gorgeous pink door, which works well with the lovely pair of yellow chairs and pink throw pillows.
Kate Richards—famous for her combination of cocktails and live chickens—used the layering approach to bringing in color to her enviable outdoor living rooms. A striped rug visually plays with patterned throw pillows, which contrast nicely with a bright green trunk-turned-coffee table.
A rich blue wall anchors this outdoor dining room in Buenos Aires. It’s combined with a light blue table, a floral table cloth, and a mix of mismatched differently colored chairs.
Though this New Orleans apartment’s balcony is quite narrow, the renter was able to bring in loads of color, with the help of vibrantly orange pillows and a bright green strip of faux grass.
This Chicago rooftop lounge space is a great example of how you don’t have to lean on vibrant furniture to bring the color into an outdoor area. Here, colorful graffiti plays a huge role in creating a bold space.
This New Orleans covered patio might seem too cluttered for some, but to me, it’s a boho maximalist dream space with a rainbow of hues that would make me happy every day.
This certain type of cobalt blue always seems to elevate everything in an outdoor area. Like in this Buenos Aires interior courtyard; it is the bold basis for a stunning feature room.
This Cape Town back patio also features a bold blue accent wall, but is paired with a complementary blue tile floor and a hot pink wicker chair.
Though there are definitely colorful decor elements in this Bay Area home’s outdoor living room—like that patterned rug, that blue bench, and the green side chair—it’s a also a great example of how to use lots of flowers to spread color around your exterior space.
You can count lots of colors in this home’s little lounge space. From the red-based rug anchoring the seating area, to the light blue chairs that look so inviting, to the hot pink side table hiding in the back, it’s a daring mix, but it works.