You’re sitting on your back porch, looking out at your garden.
Even though you love being in your garden, you feel like there is more you could achieve with your outdoor area.
Whatever it may be that makes you proud about your garden, you can’t help but think that your garden feels small.
If you live in the countryside or in the city, there are factors in your garden that could be making it feel small and cluttered.
Are you ready to make your garden look bigger?
Let’s talk about your fence.
A Fresh Coat of Paint
When you have guests over, you don’t want them to know the square footage of your garden.
You want it to seem as grand and effortless as possible.
What your eye may not notice is the potential of the perimeter of your garden.
Your fence, and the colour you choose to paint the said fence, is what is holding you back from having what appears to be a larger garden and outdoor space.
If you find that you are in a confined space, especially in an urban area, you may find that the limited space has made it impossible to feel like there is any room for grandeur.
In this situation, it sounds like you’re in need of a fresh coat of paint.
Choosing Your Color Scheme
When considering a colour scheme for painting your fence, you’ll want to choose lighter, cooler colours, as they give a spacious feeling.
Whatever colour you may choose to paint your fence has just as much to do with your personality and taste as anything else.
You must consider what appeals to your own interests and style when deciding on what swab of paint most appeals to you.
As they explain in My Domaine, cool colours can make space feel bigger.
The first is stark white, which when bathed in natural light will give the illusion of spaciousness.
An eggshell or satin finish to the white will create the appearance of even more space.
Another colour that could have a similar positive impact is light taupe.
For individuals who aren’t willing to paint a wall entirely white but are still looking for a neutral feel, this colour will give the space light.
You could also go for blush or peachy pink.
Any soft shade of pink will make your garden feel light and will be even better at sunset.
Other hues of neutral tones that could work well are beige, sand, and ivory.
An excellent alternative to white would be cool grey.
This colour can look expensive and could make the space feel large and elegant.
A classic colour that will definitely suit your needs would be a light or baby blue.
This colour will create a feeling of depth to the onlooker.
Calming colours blur the boundaries of your garden and in turn, can make an area feel bigger.
Colours that will shrink the Appearance of Your Garden
As they explain in Centenary Landscaping, darker and warmer colours tend to make an area feel smaller and more intimate.
Some colours to stray away from would-be blacks, mauve, brown, dark grey, purple, or navy.
As Mark Spencer illustrates in his video, when you have larger gardening space, a darker fence can provide an interesting contrast to plants.
Another tip mentioned in the video, is that when it comes to fencing, you could leave the fence bare and have different wooden slats or panels.
If the wooden panels are placed at different slants
The Flowers in your garden
When considering what colour scheme you want to use to achieve this desired result, you should also consider what flowers and plants you have in your garden.
While many flowers can be complementary to the cool colours aforementioned, there are some colourful flowers you may also want to avoid.
Certain types of flowers, such as red Roses and hot orange Dahlias have bright and vibrant colours.
These hot reds and bright oranges are bold colours that tend to draw the eye to one focal point.
The consequence of this is that this can make your garden seem smaller to an onlooker.
Other flowers that may make the appearance of a smaller garden would be the golden daisy Rudbeckias, red-hot Kniphofias, or Crocosmias.
What you could consider doing instead is planting flowers that are in a pastille colour scheme.
Perhaps you could opt for white or pink Petunias, the soft tones of Hydrangeas, or that of white Gardenias.
Blue flowers have a hue that adds a cool elegance to any garden.
The colour blue extends the view, so if you plant flowers along the border of your garden it will make your garden appear longer.
Some classic choices of blue flowers could be agapanthus, hydrangeas, delphiniums or salvias.
You could also combine these flowers with a white bloom, as the white will complement the blue.
Having a light colour scheme throughout the flowers in your space will allow for the eye to gravitate to more than one thing.
Other flowers that will accentuate your fence include the pink and green Echinacea, the lilac Iris, pink Delphiniums, and pastel Hydrangeas.
You could also consider any white flower, such as the Romneya white poppy flower, daisies, or white Periwinkle.
This will make space feel bigger and will accentuate the colour of your fence.
Vertical Gardening
In order to bring out the colour of your fencing, you must also consider other features of your garden that may be shrinking the space.
To make the most of your outdoor space, you may want to consider building upward and gardening up the wall of your fence.
You could introduce vertical structures to your gardens, such as a plant wall or a vertical gardening system.
As Wall Gardener explains, growing plants in your garden in this way is cost-effective and simple.
Incorporating these features to your garden will not only create the illusion of bigger garden space but will also draw the onlooker’s eye to your fence.
Make the Most of Your Space
There are other factors that could contribute to the small appearance of your garden space.
Many gardeners don’t think about this, but the clutter in your garden, can change its appearance in size.
You should consider removing things that are moveable that no longer serve the space.
Consider reorganizing your patio furniture, planters, pots, birdfeeders, and flowerbeds.
Another way to have your space feel more organized is to add different levels.
As explained in Real Homes, adding different levels, such as a deck or elevated patio, can give an element of interest and space to your design.
Yet again another interesting way to make sure you’re making the most of your garden space is to consider your pots.
Yes, your pots.
Garden designer and horticulturalist Matt James explains that small pots and small paving units will make a small garden feel busier and smaller.
He says that even when the space is small, to think big and consider using bigger pots to make your space feel even bigger.
Get Painting
Now that your garden is in order, you’re ready to get started painting your fence.
If your fence is already painted another colour, you may have to strip or scrape the colour.
Make sure you also clean your fence of any debris or dirt.
You should wash down your fence and let dry before you get painting.
One final factor you need to consider is that wood paint is designed for outdoor conditions, which makes it tough and durable.
Though not necessary, you can choose to use a primer or undercoat on your panels before you paint to increase the lifespan of your fence paint.
Since you will likely be working with cooler colours such as white or light blue, make sure you choose a paint or stain that is suitable for exterior use.
Make sure you have enough paint to cover the whole surface and that you can add more than one coat if it is required.
Sit Back and Enjoy!
Once the paint has dried, you are finally ready to enjoy your garden.
Even if you have added an elevated concept to your garden, created vertical planters, or changed the flowers in your flowerbed, the most important feature is your fence.
What cool shade of paint did you use to coat your perimeter?
Whether you choose a classic white or go for a peachy pink or a cool grey, it is clear that you have increased the elegance, style, and spaciousness of your garden.
What colour worked best for your needs?
What do your family and friends think of the space?
Does it feel bigger?
Leave us a comment below and let us know what colour you feel is the best for a garden fence.
No matter what we tell you, in the end, it is about your personal taste whether the garden is to your liking.
Now sit back and enjoy your spaciously but small, beautiful, garden!
