How to Create a Scandi Garden Space
Scandinavians have always had a profound relationship with the natural world. The forest, the coast, the long summer evenings and the still, frost-covered mornings of winter — nature isn't a backdrop to Scandinavian life, it's woven through it. It should come as no surprise, then, that the Scandi approach to outdoor spaces is every bit as considered as the approach to the interior.
A Scandi garden isn't about grandeur or formal planting schemes. It's about creating a space that feels like a natural extension of the home — somewhere to eat, to gather, to sit quietly with a coffee in the early morning. Honest materials, considered furniture, and planting that feels connected to the landscape rather than imposed upon it.
Think of It as an Outdoor Room
The most useful shift in thinking when approaching a Scandi garden is to treat it as another room in the house. It has flooring, furniture, lighting, and a sense of purpose. It should be as comfortable and considered as the living room or dining room it opens onto.
This means investing in outdoor furniture that is genuinely good — pieces that are as beautiful as anything you'd put inside, and built to handle the British climate with dignity. It means thinking about how the space flows from the interior, how light moves through it across the day, and how it looks and feels in every season, not just at the height of summer.
Choose Your Furniture Well
Outdoor furniture in a Scandi garden is chosen with the same principles as indoor furniture: natural materials, honest craft, and designs that don't date. Teak, FSC-certified oak, powder-coated steel, and woven natural fibres are the materials of choice — robust enough to live outside, beautiful enough to deserve a considered place in the space.
Skagerak are the natural authority here. Their outdoor collections are rooted in the same Nordic design tradition as their indoor pieces — furniture and accessories made from sustainably sourced teak and oak, designed to weather beautifully and last for decades. Their parasols are among the finest available — generous, well-engineered, and designed with the same honesty of material and form as their furniture.
HAY's Palissade range is one of the most compelling outdoor furniture collections in contemporary Scandi design. Designed by Ronan and Erwan Bouroullec and made from powder-coated steel, it brings the same considered simplicity and quiet confidence to the garden as HAY's indoor pieces do to the home. Available as dining chairs, lounge chairs, benches, and tables, the Palissade range works equally well on a city terrace or a larger garden setting — and the wide colour range means it can complement almost any outdoor palette.
A dining table and chairs that can seat the household comfortably — and a few more when needed — are the foundation. Add a pair of loungers or a low bench for more relaxed moments, and the space is furnished. Resist the temptation to add more than the garden needs.
Create Zones
Even a modest garden benefits from a sense of different areas — somewhere to eat, somewhere to sit and read, perhaps a corner with a fire pit for the evenings when the temperature drops. Zoning doesn't need to be elaborate: a change of surface material, the placement of furniture, or the line of a planted border can be enough to define one area from another.
In a larger space, a simple timber deck or a laid stone terrace immediately creates a defined outdoor room that feels connected to the house. Keep the materials honest and in keeping with the interior — pale stone, warm timber, simple concrete — and the garden will feel like a continuation of the home rather than a separate world.
Get the Planting Right
Scandi garden planting tends toward the naturalistic — grasses, perennials, and plants with strong structural forms that look as good in winter as in summer. Think ornamental grasses that move in the wind, simple white or pale-toned flowering plants, dark-leaved shrubs, and the kind of planting that rewards a closer look without demanding constant attention.
Raised beds in timber or Corten steel bring structure and definition to a planting scheme without formality. A kitchen garden — even a modest one — connects the outdoor space to the life of the home in the most direct way possible. Herbs in simple terracotta pots on a terrace, a row of vegetables in a raised bed, fruit trained against a warm wall.
Avoid overly colourful, high-maintenance planting schemes that look spectacular for a few weeks and spend the rest of the year looking ordinary. Choose plants for their form, their longevity, and their behaviour across all four seasons.
Light the Space
Outdoor lighting transforms a garden from a daytime space into one that can be used and enjoyed well into the evening. The Scandi approach — warm, layered, and never garish — applies as much outside as it does inside.
String lights or simple festoon lighting overhead create a warm canopy of light above a dining area. Lanterns at table level and low-level path lights define the space and make it safe to move around after dark. Candles on the table — sheltered from the wind in simple storm lanterns — are the most atmospheric option of all and cost almost nothing.
Louis Poulsen produce outdoor lighting with the same quality and character as their indoor fittings — pendants and wall lights designed for exterior use that bring genuine warmth to a terrace or covered outdoor space. If you have a pergola or covered outdoor dining area, a proper outdoor pendant is one of the most transformative investments you can make.
Add Warmth for Longer Evenings
The British summer is generous on its best days and unpredictable on the rest. A well-chosen outdoor heater or a simple fire pit extends the season considerably and makes the garden usable on the cooler evenings that bookend the warmest months.
The Weltevree Outdooroven is one of those rare objects that is as beautiful to look at as it is satisfying to use. A wood-burning outdoor oven and fire pit combined, it is designed for exactly the kind of long, unhurried outdoor evening that Scandi living celebrates — cooking over fire, gathered around warmth, with no particular reason to go inside. Cast iron and powder-coated steel, built to live outside permanently, it develops a natural patina with use that only adds to its character. A fire pit around which to gather on an autumn evening, with good chairs pulled close and a blanket to hand, is one of the simplest and most genuinely Nordic pleasures a garden can offer — the Weltevree Outdooroven makes it a ritual worth repeating. Weltevree also produce a beautifully thick sheepskin — draped over a chair or a bench as the evening cools, it is one of those small details that keeps people outside long after they might otherwise have gone in.
Bring the Interior Out
The boundary between inside and outside should feel permeable in a Scandi home. If the garden opens from a living or dining room, consider how the two spaces relate — consistent flooring materials where the interior meets the terrace, furniture that echoes the palette and character of the interior, textiles that can move between the two spaces as the day unfolds.
Outdoor cushions and throws in weather-resistant but natural-feeling fabrics extend the comfort of the interior into the garden. A simple outdoor rug defines a seating area and immediately makes a terrace feel more like a room. Keep the palette consistent with the interior — warm neutrals, muted greens and greys, the natural tones of timber and stone.
What to Avoid
Cheap plastic furniture. It looks wrong, ages badly, and is almost always false economy. Invest in one or two genuinely good pieces and the garden will reward you for it.
Over-lighting. Bright spotlights and coloured LEDs work against the calm, warm atmosphere of a Scandi outdoor space. Keep lighting warm-toned, low-level, and layered.
Overly formal planting. Clipped hedges and symmetrical bedding schemes feel at odds with the naturalistic, landscape-connected spirit of Scandi garden design. Choose planting that moves, evolves, and rewards watching across the seasons.
Too much furniture. As with any room, the garden benefits from editing. A few well-chosen pieces with space to breathe around them will always feel better than a terrace crowded with chairs, tables, and accessories.
The Brands to Know
Skagerak — beautifully crafted outdoor furniture and parasols in teak and oak, built for the long term HAY — the Palissade range; considered outdoor dining and lounge furniture in powder-coated steel Weltevree — the Outdooroven and sheepskin; designed for long evenings spent outside Louis Poulsen — outdoor lighting with the same warmth and quality as their interior range
Browse our full outdoor collection at innes.co.uk, or visit our showroom in Hessle, near Hull, to see the pieces in person.
Frequently Asked Questions
What outdoor furniture materials last best in the UK climate? Teak is the most naturally durable choice — it weathers to a beautiful silvery grey if left untreated, or can be oiled to maintain its warm honey tone. FSC-certified oak is another excellent option, robust and full of character. Powder-coated steel and aluminium are low-maintenance alternatives that hold up well in wet conditions. Avoid untreated softwood and wicker, which rarely cope well with sustained British weather.
Should I treat or oil my teak garden furniture? It depends on the look you want. Left untreated, teak weathers naturally to a soft silver-grey that many people find just as beautiful as the original tone — and it requires no maintenance at all. If you prefer to maintain the warm honey colour, a light application of teak oil once or twice a year is all that's needed. Avoid heavy varnishes or paints, which sit on the surface and tend to peel. Either approach will keep the furniture in excellent condition for decades.
How do I create a sense of privacy in a garden without high fencing? Planting is almost always a better solution than fencing. Tall ornamental grasses, bamboo in a contained planter, and pleached trees all create a sense of enclosure and privacy without the hard, imposing line of a fence. Timber screens with a slatted or open design let light and air through while defining the boundary of a space. The result feels more like a garden and less like an enclosure.
Can I use indoor furniture outside? Occasionally, in a very sheltered spot, but it's rarely a good idea as a permanent arrangement. Timber furniture designed for indoor use isn't treated to handle sustained moisture and will deteriorate quickly outside. Purpose-made outdoor furniture — even at the premium end — is always a better investment than repurposing indoor pieces and replacing them every few years.
How do I make a small outdoor space feel more generous? Keep it simple and well-edited. One good table and chairs, a couple of plants with strong form, and considered lighting will always feel better than a small space crammed with furniture and accessories. Use vertical space — wall-trained plants, a simple trellis, a wall-mounted light — to add interest without taking up floor area. And keep the flooring consistent with the interior where possible; it makes the space feel like a continuation of the home rather than a separate, smaller area.