Kelly Hoppen's Tips for Creating a Stylish Outdoor-Living Space

Sponsored Content

From the jaw-dropping interiors to the stop-in-your-tracks outdoor spaces, the newest class of award-winning ships by Celebrity Cruises is reimagining cruising for the luxury traveller. Expect cutting-edge technology, awe-inspiring design, unique culinary concepts, five-star wellbeing experiences and a progressive entertainment program, all brought together to the very peak of what’s possible at sea.

Here, we talk to multi award-winning British designer Kelly Hoppen CBE, who was tasked with bringing her globally renowned style of subtle East and West fusion to the ship’s striking outdoor spaces. “With Celebrity Beyond℠, we had so much space to work with for the outdoor designs, such as the main pool deck and the incredible rooftop garden, so it was really important that these spaces reflected the same sense of luxury and relaxation that you feel indoors,” says Kelly. ‘I wanted to emphasise that feeling of the natural world and closeness to the outdoors, as I think there’s an inherent serenity and allure there, so there are lots of tropical plants and organic textures intertwined with sleek lines and an array of statement furniture.’

Read on and pick up valuable tips and advice from this phenomenal interior design guru on how to create a calming neutral outdoor space that evokes a charming warmth and sumptuous opulence.

Celebrity Cruises

Balance out bright tones by contrasting them with chic neutrals
When it comes to decorating and styling your outdoor-living area, treat it like any other interior space and ensure there’s a bold and vibrant focal point that adds interest. Consider painting landscaping features, such as pergola posts or sleeper retainers, in a zesty tone that pops. Or look to the verdant tones of nature and add colourful plants and trees that will inject cheerful hues, which can then be reflected in fabrics and patterns. These small doses of vibrant shades will bring just enough colour and interest to your outdoor space, allowing you to balance the energy with calmer neutral tones and organic textures in the seating and dining areas to evoke a sense of relaxation.

Take, for example, Kelly Hoppen’s sumptuous and sophisticated design of the Celebrity Cruises signature Magic Carpet terrace, where striking orange architectural details weave subtly with the tangerine-coloured accents in the scatter cushions. “Keep vibrant touches subtle to ensure that the bright tones don’t become overpowering,” says Kelly. “Patterns using wide stripes are great because they already have that balance. And always pick high-quality outdoor fabric that will endure and pull together patterns that will elevate the space. I like to use stripes to elongate the vertical plane and add height, or embossed embroidery to add sophisticated texture and depth.”

Styling tip: Again, just like an interior space, Kelly says it pays to keep a keen eye on the overall layout of an outdoor-living area to make sure that there’s logic and flow. “Parasols and pagodas are perfect for drawing focus to a ‘central point’ in a design,” she says. “I’d always recommend laying out a moodboard of your chosen fabrics, patterns and textures to start: they don’t all have to be similar but it’s crucial that they complement each other and there’s a rhythm throughout.”

Celebrity Cruises

Create cosy zones and areas of shade
Love the openness of your garden but struggling to make it feel welcoming? Kelly
suggests it’s a case of “finding a middle ground between openness and intimacy”, and creating different seating options depending on the mood or need
of the moment, from cosy spots for reclining to practical dining areas.

Onboard Celebrity Cruises, Kelly has approached the outdoor spaces with a focus on functionality, as well as a stunning aesthetic, by dividing the spaces into zones to give guests plenty of choice. “I used lots of different seating types and
arrangements – some more open and facing the water like the loungers on the Retreat Deck, some private and secluded with shade like the private booths on
the Resort Deck – so whether you’re looking for a sunny spot to read in peace, or a cosy banquette to curl up over a cocktail, you’re never short of options.”

Styling tip: Another brilliant outdoor-living tip from Kelly is to use lighting to cosy the space up. “Lighting is so important in outdoor environments as it brings that all-important ambience after dark,” she says. “There is so much choice, from gorgeous sculptural floor lanterns to intricate pendant lights, ideal for adding warmth and elegance.”

Celebrity Cruises

Layer natural textures to bring in softness
We often look to natural and organic textures to inject a warmth and softness into our interior spaces, and likewise, these tactile surfaces can do the same in our garden. “Texture is so important for adding depth and dimension, particularly outdoors where you can manipulate the light in your favour; for example, the matt-textured walls around the Resort Deck soften its overall appearance,” says Kelly. “Choose fabrics that have this effect; luxurious cushioning and layered textures in scatter cushions are simple tools to make outdoor seating areas more inviting.”

Kelly’s top tip if you are finding it hard to make your outdoor space feel inviting, is to stand back and see what elements look too rigid or harsh, then find ways to soften around it. “On the Retreat Sun Deck, the dark pillars of the pagoda structures were too obtrusive when exposed, so we wrapped them in natural rope with warm tones,” she explains.

Styling tip: When it comes to choosing furniture for your outdoor space, Kelly suggests you should treat it differently to the indoors. “Furniture that works gorgeously indoors doesn’t always translate to a sophisticated outdoor scheme,” she says. ‘When out in the open, people don’t want to be parked in rigid dining chairs; there is a relaxed sophistication to be found in sumptuous sofas and plush beanbags.”

Celebrity Cruises

Choose plants that work well in containers
We’ve all learnt how useful indoor houseplants can be for adding colour, interesting shape or defining zones of indoor spaces, and exterior plants in containers can do exactly the same outside. Finding the right plant that will flourish in a container is key to using it as a decorating device that can change up the look of your patio or garden.

“There’s nothing worse than limp, dead plants, so I always plan around the conditions that they’ll have to thrive in,” says Kelly. “Ferns and grasses are great for longer containers, or for creating simple boundaries with a natural look. For more of a statement, I’d say go for low-maintenance plants with beautiful leaves; like Monstera, Bird of Paradise, Philodendron.”

Style tip: To ensure a lush green outlook from your patio year-round, opt for mini evergreen trees such as olive and eucalyptus, and plant them in large time-worn metal planters for a sophisticated yet relaxed feel.

To discover more, visit Celebrity Cruises’s Houzz profile here.

This story was written by the Houzz Sponsored Content team.