9 Ways to Let Vintage Style Spill into Your Garden
Harness the pretty, laid-back look of a vintage-style garden with these romantic ideas
If you’re a lover of all things vintage, it’s no good keeping the rustic finishes, gorgeous, pastel shades and pretty touches simply for the inside of your home, leaving a personality-free patch once you step through the back door. Instead, go full pelt with the vintage vibe outdoors, too, and I guarantee you’ll be spending as much time as possible in your glorious garden. All we need now is the sun…
Pretty up garden buildings
I’ve always wanted a secret garden hideaway and this pretty, vintage-style summerhouse on stilts ticks every box. Being nestled amid mature trees and hedges lends this bolthole a certain air of mystery, while the pastel blue and white paintwork is prettiness in a nutshell.
Finish off with generous borders of fragrant lavender and I’m there for the summer…
I’ve always wanted a secret garden hideaway and this pretty, vintage-style summerhouse on stilts ticks every box. Being nestled amid mature trees and hedges lends this bolthole a certain air of mystery, while the pastel blue and white paintwork is prettiness in a nutshell.
Finish off with generous borders of fragrant lavender and I’m there for the summer…
Accessorise with candles and flowers
If you only have a mini terrace, patio or balcony space, you can still create a vintage ambience by lavishing a table, windowsill or ledge with a liberal scattering of church candles, tealights, jugs of fresh or dried hydrangeas and strings of fairy lights.
Invite friends around for early evening drinks and, when dusk descends, the pretty glow will really come into its own.
Browse inspiring ideas for making the most of a small garden
If you only have a mini terrace, patio or balcony space, you can still create a vintage ambience by lavishing a table, windowsill or ledge with a liberal scattering of church candles, tealights, jugs of fresh or dried hydrangeas and strings of fairy lights.
Invite friends around for early evening drinks and, when dusk descends, the pretty glow will really come into its own.
Browse inspiring ideas for making the most of a small garden
Love your roses
A profusion of pale pink roses clustered around a wooden archway has ‘vintage garden’ written all over it. In fact, there’s little more beautiful than a cluster of English climbing roses in full bloom: they are fragrant (often repeat flowering) and are very easy to manage, with flexible stems that can be fanned out across a wall, trellis or fence.
A profusion of pale pink roses clustered around a wooden archway has ‘vintage garden’ written all over it. In fact, there’s little more beautiful than a cluster of English climbing roses in full bloom: they are fragrant (often repeat flowering) and are very easy to manage, with flexible stems that can be fanned out across a wall, trellis or fence.
Dabble with fabric
It’s not difficult – or expensive – to create a vintage evening supper table in your own space, and all vintage enthusiasts will be well-versed in the tried-and-trusted, penny-saving decorating tricks, such as using linen sheets as tablecloths and old jam jars as vases. But I love the quirky finishing touch in this patio garden, where long lengths of gauzy ribbon and delicate lace are hung up over the table and left to waft gently over celebrations.
Candles are a must here. You don’t need expensive scents or colours, just good old-fashioned white pillar candles in a big cluster.
It’s not difficult – or expensive – to create a vintage evening supper table in your own space, and all vintage enthusiasts will be well-versed in the tried-and-trusted, penny-saving decorating tricks, such as using linen sheets as tablecloths and old jam jars as vases. But I love the quirky finishing touch in this patio garden, where long lengths of gauzy ribbon and delicate lace are hung up over the table and left to waft gently over celebrations.
Candles are a must here. You don’t need expensive scents or colours, just good old-fashioned white pillar candles in a big cluster.
Wonder at wisteria
There’s something about a wall draped in pendants of pale lilac wisteria that instantly adds a vintage flourish to the outside of an English, red-brick cottage – or any home for that matter.
Choose a sunny or semi-shaded site with moist, well-drained soil and train the wisteria against a wall using horizontal support wires. Remember to prune twice a year and do be aware that wisteria grown from seed can take many, many years to flower – but it will definitely be worth the wait once it finally does.
There’s something about a wall draped in pendants of pale lilac wisteria that instantly adds a vintage flourish to the outside of an English, red-brick cottage – or any home for that matter.
Choose a sunny or semi-shaded site with moist, well-drained soil and train the wisteria against a wall using horizontal support wires. Remember to prune twice a year and do be aware that wisteria grown from seed can take many, many years to flower – but it will definitely be worth the wait once it finally does.
Embrace rustic finishes
Rusty metal fixtures and furnishings will instil, by their very nature, an air of well-worn, vintage grandeur into your garden. The warm copper tones contrast beautifully with emerald green foliage and brightly coloured blooms.
Visit reclamation yards, car-boot sales and flea markets to hunt for suitable pieces, and look out for weathered zinc-top tables while you’re there.
Rusty metal fixtures and furnishings will instil, by their very nature, an air of well-worn, vintage grandeur into your garden. The warm copper tones contrast beautifully with emerald green foliage and brightly coloured blooms.
Visit reclamation yards, car-boot sales and flea markets to hunt for suitable pieces, and look out for weathered zinc-top tables while you’re there.
Work in a garden gallery
An outdoor gallery of ornate mirrors, antique frames and pretty pictures arranged on a block of neatly clipped hedge or bare brick wall will add so much personality to the vintage garden. It’s an easy decorating trick to pull off at home, although do make sure mirrors and frames are securely attached with metal clips and framework. (And you might want to do as this owner does, and take down the decorations every now and then to let the light get to the hedge.)
Sprinkle with metal birdcages and an outdoor chandelier for a seriously eclectic vintage vibe.
An outdoor gallery of ornate mirrors, antique frames and pretty pictures arranged on a block of neatly clipped hedge or bare brick wall will add so much personality to the vintage garden. It’s an easy decorating trick to pull off at home, although do make sure mirrors and frames are securely attached with metal clips and framework. (And you might want to do as this owner does, and take down the decorations every now and then to let the light get to the hedge.)
Sprinkle with metal birdcages and an outdoor chandelier for a seriously eclectic vintage vibe.
Try a pleasing profusion
I’m not one for neatly clipped hedges, rows of geometric planting and modern garden furniture, but that’s just me. Instead, I prefer the carefree abundance of the vintage garden, with trails of cascading blooms (in vivid pinks, crisp whites and pastel hues), traditional timber furniture and rustic, well-worn pavers.
It’s an organic, ever-evolving look where maturing plants and shrubs will grow into real beauties.
TELL US…
Do you like vintage-style gardens? Please share your thoughts, tips and photos in the Comments below.
I’m not one for neatly clipped hedges, rows of geometric planting and modern garden furniture, but that’s just me. Instead, I prefer the carefree abundance of the vintage garden, with trails of cascading blooms (in vivid pinks, crisp whites and pastel hues), traditional timber furniture and rustic, well-worn pavers.
It’s an organic, ever-evolving look where maturing plants and shrubs will grow into real beauties.
TELL US…
Do you like vintage-style gardens? Please share your thoughts, tips and photos in the Comments below.
On a fine summer’s day, take tables and chairs outdoors and let your quintessentially English garden become the perfect spot for a vintage-style afternoon tea.
Set up your table under the shade of a tree, pergola or awning, and dress with an old-fashioned linen cloth, glass cake stand and floral crockery. Bring cushions and blankets outdoors to pump up the comfort factor and trail pretty bunting between branches, gate posts or fences.
Enjoy more decorating ideas for putting on afternoon tea