Garden Design Ideas with Landscape designer Lucy Bravington

Spring signals longer days and the promise of sunshine, enticing us Brits to embrace our gardens once more. We’ll soon be eagerly tending to our flowers, relishing the simple pleasure of being outdoors, and of course, retreating to our garden rooms for moments of peace and socialising with friends. 

To help you maximise your garden’s potential this year, we’ve seeked insights from multi award winning garden designer, Lucy Bravington. Lucy’s extensive expertise and eye for everything botanical means she is the best person to get your garden looking tip-top. 

Lucy Bravington started her garden design business 15 years ago after completing a business degree, gaining two years of experience at a design and build company and training at Pershore Horticultural College.  

Lucy has provided some hints and techniques for us at Green Retreats to get your garden and garden room spring ready for those long-awaited lighter evenings.

How to make a garden room blend into the garden?

Lucy explains there are particular materials that work in harmony with a garden room. Coherence is paramount in garden design. Depending on the chosen cladding for the garden room, Lucy explains she designs surrounding areas to align tonally, utilising either similar composite decking or hardwood timber. Alternatively, on some projects she prefers to use the internal flooring of the garden room as a guide to paving or decking choices, creating that seamless link.

Our internal flooring ranges from white, grey, and oak, each showcasing a distinct aesthetic to elevate the ambiance and appeal of your space – try our 3D Design Tool here!

At Green Retreats, our garden rooms are crafted to seamlessly blend into the natural beauty of your garden or to make a bold statement with standout materials. Our diverse cladding options include Redwood, Honey Redwood, and Cedar Composite, all available in a slatted style also. Additionally, we offer a composite range featuring black, grey, and oak colourways, ensuring a durable, long-lasting finish that maintains its pristine appearance for years to come.  

Lucy described her thoughts on a garden room amongst her garden designs. It can be a tricky decision to make, you ideally want to craft an aesthetic that harmonizes seamlessly with the unique character of your garden design.

“It depends on the brief – some clients want to make a feature of them and others want to hide them and create some intrigue. It also depends on the size of the garden. Green Retreats have great options to help with this. I advise clients to choose black cladding if they want the garden room to be more subtle and sink into the background. Alternatively, they should select a timber cladding if they’d rather make it the main feature. I always recommend planting in front of them so they are softened a little. In any garden it’s best to create some intrigue and a desire to explore the space.”

Why a garden room is a beneficial space 

We frequently see a vast range of uses for our garden rooms and we love hearing about how our customers diversify the space. Lucy has shed some light on customers she has previously collaborated with and explained they primarily use their garden room for relaxing and entertaining but highlights with garden rooms the possibilities are endless! It’s so easy to create an extension of the home, whether you want to use it for working, working out, a guest room….anything is possible.

At Green Retreats we’d like to emphasise that our garden rooms serve as an ever-evolving extension of your home. Just as you might transition a child’s play area into a teenage hangout or revitalize your living room, the same adaptable approach applies when customising your garden room to better suit your changing needs as time goes on. A garden room proves to be a forever growing space and we argue better than any other extension options available, see why we think a garden room extension overrules here. 

For a boost of inspiration for your garden room project, explore some of our most popular uses here.

Why would you pick a garden room from Green Retreats?

Lucy estimates that 70% of her projects incorporate a garden room. While we’re confident in the quality of our garden rooms at Green Retreats, we’re also eager to gain insight from Lucy Bravington, a multi award winning landscape designer. So that leads us to the vital question…What specifically attracts you to choosing our garden rooms at Green Retreats over other options on the market?

“The quality of the product and extensive options available is fantastic. The customer service also stands out and my clients are always thrilled with the end result, which is very important to me.” 

We take pride not only in our meticulously designed garden rooms but also in providing an exceptional customer experience from start to finish. Our simple and streamlined garden rooms, customisable with packs makes creating your dream garden room simple! View our full garden rooms range here.

TOP GARDEN TRENDS FOR 2024

As a garden designer, Lucy’s forecast for garden trends in 2024 anticipates a continued emphasis on sustainable and eco-friendly practices. An increased demand for native and drought-tolerant plants to withstand our changing climate. And a return to natural stone paving with warmer tones and finally a continued interest and enthusiasm for nature and the outdoors.  

“Our gardens hold huge value to us for our health and wellbeing so there will be sustained interest in making them the best they can be, incorporating garden rooms so we can enjoy them in all weathers and feel fully immersed in the space.” 

What can I use my garden room for?

We wanted to propose the question to garden expert Lucy, what would you use your garden room for?

“I would create a gym! One of my clients incorporated a gym and went all out on the interior and I’m super jealous!”

A garden room can provide an ideal setting for a gym, offering a blend of natural elements, privacy, convenience, and customisation that can keep you proactive and enhance the exercise experience – great news for the whole household! 

What aspects of being a landscape and garden designer do you find most fulfilling?

We’re always delighted to connect with individuals who share our passion for outdoor spaces. That’s why we recently asked Lucy about her favourite aspect of her job.

“I love my job! It’s hard to choose so I’ll list my top 3;

• Being part of such an exciting, forward thinking industry with amazing products available to enhance outdoor spaces.
• Creating outdoor spaces for all the family and their friends to enjoy.  
• Having happy clients who are so proud to show off their new garden really makes me smile.”

We hope this read has put a spring in your step towards sprucing up your garden in time for some hopeful sunshine and plenty of outdoor occasions! We can smell the BBQ already… 

See our garden rooms for yourself!

Visit our showrooms

We hope Lucy’s expert point of view has given you an insight to your already existing garden room plans or your future plans to owning a garden room.

To help make your mind up, visit one of our showrooms. Either located in Buckinghamshire or London to see our garden rooms in person. Schedule an appointment below, or feel free to drop by at your convenience.

Book a showroom visit below…