10 ideas and tips on how to furnish a garden on a budget

July 1, Marketing Casavo

When you think about making your home more beautiful in spring, it's easy to forget about the outdoor spaces. With a little... With creativity, however, it is possible to make outdoor spaces as welcoming as those inside the home.

If you're wondering how to furnish your home garden on a budget lighting, attention to detail and a willingness to get your hands dirty are certainly two essential ingredients. But that's not all: here are our 10 tips for transforming the exterior of your home into a corner of comfort and relaxation.

1. Choose your style

The first thing to think about before starting to furnish the exterior is the type of environment you want to recreate. There are countless ornaments and decorations you can add to the exterior of your home to create a welcoming space, but it's important to have a clear style idea to avoid inharmonious combinations. Imagine what you will do in your garden, what you would like the various decorative elements to communicate, and how they should balance with the home furnishings. Is a zen area or an open space for celebrating with friends better? Exotic and lush plants or a modern and minimalist style? Let each room speak for itself.

2. Table and chairs

At this point, depending on the size of your garden, you can choose how much space to dedicate to furniture. Outdoor chairs can be expensive, but given the wide variety of models available on the market, you'll surely find something to suit your budget. If you use your garden for lunch with family or spending time with friends, you'll need to create a dedicated corner, with light, a table, and space to move around. If, however, you prefer a reading corner or a place to rest after a few hours spent in the garden, opt for a deckchair or a stone bench that takes up little space.

3. Install a fountain

Adding a small fountain to your garden is ideal for creating a truly unique and refreshing atmosphere, but also for maximizing the sounds of nature: in addition to the pleasant sound of trickling water, your fountain will also attract robins and birds. Some are designed for DIY enthusiasts, while others may require modifications to the underground plumbing system. Whether you prefer an elegant solution in the center of the garden or a space-saving wall fountain, you're spoiled for choice when it comes to type, size, and price.

4. Create a stone path

To create a visually pleasing and functional effect, a great idea is to create a walkway by lining up a series of stones in the garden. By arranging the stones in order—preferably flat, heavy, and wide—you can create a useful and pleasant path, which will also keep your feet from getting wet when it rains. By alternating darker and lighter colored stones, you can also create an original visual effect (and you might even be able to do so by going into the woods or to the beach to hunt for natural stones, without having to buy them).

5. Flower Pots

To decorate a small garden without overwhelming the space, a floral touch is a great way to add color with little effort. Terracotta pots give a rustic look to the space and can be placed on the floor or on a shelf to cover a wall. If you prefer, instead of buying new pots, you can plant your flowers in recycled containers such as plastic bottles, metal cans, or wooden crates. With a few products and small tricks, you can give new life to old objects and recycled materials, for a lively and sustainable garden.

6. Create a flowerbed

Free time, money, and space aren't an obstacle? Give free rein to your green thumb! With flowerbeds, the only limit is your creativity: you can build floral islands of the most varied geometric shapes within stone or wooden frames, and play with colors to give the right character to your garden. Remember, however, that flowerbeds require constant attention; therefore, to do a good job, make sure you are able to take care of them over time.

7. Vertical garden

How to furnish a small garden so that it is functional and pleasing to the eye? Building a vertical garden is the ideal solution for making the most of the available space and the sun's rays, growing herbs and vegetables to use in the kitchen. With a pallet or an old wooden shutter, you can create an aesthetically original structure on which to hang plants, all in an economical way. Once again, recycling is an excellent solution: the materials you need to create a vertical garden – from wooden or metal grids to jars and hooks for hanging plants – are easy to find and adapt to your needs.

8. Decorate with antiques

Integrating antique objects into a natural space is an excellent idea for creating an elegant and designer effect by combining different materials. You can experiment with many different and original ways depending on the space available: aged terracotta vases sunk into the ground, a fountain transformed into a flowerbed, a decorative bicycle covered in climbing plants, or a wooden barrel used as a table: ideal for a romantic atmosphere of times gone by.

9. Don't forget the lighting

A fundamental part of garden decor is lighting, especially if you use your home's outdoor space in the evening. Spotlights that emit soft light are excellent for outdoor spaces, but if you're looking for a romantic and sophisticated decor, you can install string lights or oriental-inspired paper lanterns. For an even more intimate atmosphere, candles are always effective, but remember to blow them out every time you leave the garden.

10. Assemble a Gazebo

Those with a large garden can install a covered structure to use the outdoor space during every season. A gazebo is certainly a more voluminous and visually striking furnishing element than the decorations we discussed above, but it allows you to shelter from both the sun and the rain throughout the year. A variety of models are available on the market for all budgets, from permanent wooden gazebos to portable ones in metal and waterproof fabric.

Looking for a house with a garden? Get help from Casavo!

With these 10 little tips on how to furnish a garden on a budget, we hope we've given you some inspiration and ideas for your home's outdoor area. The possibilities for decorating your property's green space are limitless, and with a little creativity, it'll be easy to transform your garden without spending a fortune.

If you dream of moving to a house with a garden, we at Casavo have just the thing for you. Our listing platform is full of homes for sale in Florence, Milan, Rome, Turin, Bologna, and Verona. Contact us today to discover the opportunities that await you!