A designer usually starts their designing with the client brief in hand and either mood board or ‘bubble plan’ some ideas. Mood-board is about the look and feel, and Bubble planning (or space blocking) is about your site and how people will use and move through it.

It doesn’t matter which way around you start - sometimes I switch it up depending on whether I’m in a practical frame of mind or a bit dreamier. For this project, I started on the Moodboard to ensure I had a good feeling for the clients’ style. Relaxed and rural but luxe and eco-minded.

We’ll fit in a large veg patch alongside a glorious outdoor kitchen and entertainment space. Relaxed rural plantings alongside a moving water feature (maybe a huge rill if I can swing it!).

I was really reminded of a kind of ‘Byron Bay’ meets rural Manawatu theme percolating. I used loads of natural materials; crushed lime, local stone, recycled timbers and a warm rusty colour palette. The plants are mostly native, strong and reliable, with no fru-fru or fussiness, but relaxed and lightened up with the puffy seed heads of the dwarf toe toe. I’ve ‘luxed’ it up with my accessory choices, clean lines, light timbers and rattan, and the client could soft furnish it in loads of ways to suit their taste (finer flowered pillows for a more gentle finish or ikat prints to go harder on the boho).

And I’m super thrilled with the result. Take a look and see if you can feel the theme here too. I’ve included some links to products if you love them (not sponsored) and a couple of landscape designers from Australia who inspired my starting point).

What do you reckon? Are you feeling the vibe?

Plants to Try: Brachyoglottis, Lomandra longifolia, Phormium Tenax (NZ Flax), Xeronema Callistemon (poor Knight’s Lily), Chinocloa flavicans (Dwarf Toe toe). (Most are pretty hardy most places in NZ, our location is temperate and the client’s soil is on the sandy side).

Hard materials to try: Crushed stone fines (Hoggin 0-5mm), sandstone seating walls, crazy pavers, recycled timber/ sleepers (not chemically treated for veg beds!), corten steel edging.

Furniture links:

Outdoor Dining Table

Dining Chair

Lounge Chair Half the Budget Sling Chair Tu Meke, that’s super budget-friendly (beach chair)

Side Table (more rustic)

Rug (similar)

Lighting (similar) A bit more boho

More Byron/ Relaxed/ Luxe Inspo Gardens: KML, Fig Landscapes, LANDstudio