12 Outdoor Living Space Trends Taking Over 2025

Outdoor living designs are getting a major upgrade in 2025. From multifunctional spaces and cozy palettes to sustainable living and climate resiliency, homeowners are embracing layouts that fuse aesthetics and practicality. Whether you’re planning a renovation or a minor refresh, here are 12 trends you want to consider.

1. Indoor-Outdoor Flow

This trend embraces the flow between your indoor and outdoor living spaces, treating them as extensions of one another. One way this can manifest is by using similar design sensibilities outdoors as indoors.

Outdoor furniture has grown more stylish in recent years, making it easier to create full living room setups in your backyard. Aside from furniture, you can further nurture this flow by connecting your spaces through solariums, greenhouses or retractable glass walls.

2. Productive Outdoor Offices

Since the COVID-19 lockdowns, remote work has become a popular arrangement for several industries. Despite restrictions easing up, 35% of employed Americans continue to work from home at least some of the time. Outdoor office spaces make for a refreshing break from your bedroom or indoor desk, allowing you to enjoy nature and fresh air while staying productive.

To make your outdoor office comfy and functional, consider a canopy to protect you and your equipment from the hot sun and a spacious, stable desk to accommodate your work equipment. A Wi-Fi extender ensures you get the bandwidth to stay productive and connected with your team.

3. Green Spaces

Gardens and other green spaces remain as landscaping trends this 2025, but focusing on sustainability. Picture native plant species that help conserve water or lawn alternatives like moss, creeping rosemary, and creeping thyme. You can create a small farm by planting your favorite fruits, veggies and herbs. Softscaping elements or living elements bring in lots of elegance, color and style to your garden.

Gardens are also relaxing. Spending 10-30 minutes in nature reduces stress and helps with mental health. One of the most popular landscaping ideas for backyards is sensory gardens designed to nurture relaxation and engage all five senses. This means using plants and decor to stimulate sight, smell, touch, hearing, and taste.

4. Warm and Earthy Palettes

Popular outdoor design ideas include embracing coziness this year, with a resurgence of warm neutrals and earth tones compared to the past decade's cool gray palettes. The former palettes can be visually striking — earth tones cover a lot of ground, from deep brick browns and reds to greens, blues, and metallics. If you want a bit of excitement, consider a pop of bold color as an accent.

5. Outdoor Kitchens

Kitchens are often an indoor exclusive, but that is changing. In 2025, expect more homes to have full outdoor cooking setups. Aside from the grill — a backyard staple — outdoor kitchens can have stoves, brick ovens, sinks and countertops for food prep. These setups transform your yard into a cozy gathering and alfresco dining space for your family and friends.

6. Fire Features

Fire pits and outdoor fireplaces are perfect for outdoor parties and barbecues or warming up on cold nights, allowing you to use your lawn or backyard throughout the year. A wood-burning fire pit is more traditional, but you can explore gas fire pits if you want a cleaner burn.

They’re also great for practice camping with the kids. Pitch a tent in your yard, light a fire and make s'mores with the family while telling each other stories.

7. Shade Structures

Summers are getting longer and hotter. These high temperatures and heat waves also pose threats to public health, aside from just being uncomfortable. Shade structures are a logical response to the intense heat.

Explore covered patio ideas like pergolas and canopies to ensure comfort and use your outdoor spaces all year round. Features like retractable shades and adjustable louvers give you more control over the structure to enjoy the sun or shade whenever you like.

8. Cold Plunge Pools

Homes are taking a wellness-oriented approach to outdoor living designs in 2025. More people are prioritizing personal wellness, which is evident in the industry’s $1.8 trillion value in 2024. Cold plunge pools are a popular element you can incorporate into your space to make it more spa-like.

The temperature can be incredibly refreshing, especially on hot summer days. Scientists have also found that cold plunges can reduce cellular stress and inflammation and improve muscle recovery.

9. Smart Technology

Smart technology is gaining popularity and market growth, and its usefulness extends to the outdoors. Think beyond your security camera and consider these smart additions to your backyard:

• Smart plugs for appliances, lights and electronic decor
• Lawnmowers and water monitors for maintenance
• Sprinklers for your lawn
• Outdoor lights for mood-setting and illumination
• Grills and meat thermometers for outdoor feasts

If you’ve set up some smart indoor systems, try integrating your outdoor spaces for convenience and seamless control.

10. Sustainable Materials

Spending time outdoors involves an appreciation for nature, and sustainability efforts fit in with this philosophy. Climate change remains a growing concern, so many desire to create sustainable outdoor spaces for their houses.

Teak wood and rope are popular materials for environmentally oriented homeowners and designers. These materials are sturdy yet comfortable, withstanding outdoor conditions and allowing you and your loved ones to enjoy the outdoors for years to come.

11. Electric Features

Sustainability extends beyond building or furniture materials and toward resource management, like electricity. According to Zillow, whole-home batteries are getting a 62% surge in mentions, alongside solar panels with an 18% increase, as more people want to create more environmentally friendly living spaces. These features allow you to maximize your outdoor spaces by collecting backup power and minimizing your reliance on the grid and non-renewable energy sources.

12. Climate Resiliency

Staying prepared is always smart. Aside from making patios or backyards look good, more homeowners are creating climate-resilient spaces. Some use retractable flood barriers to protect their homes and properties in case of a storm or water catchment systems to ensure access to clean water, regardless of the season.

Transform Your Outdoor Spaces

Homeowners are embracing the outdoors as an extension of the home and are prioritizing design choices that make these areas more functional and comfortable. Make these ideas your jumping-off point toward beautiful, practical outdoor living spaces that work for you and your household.

Ready to bring your dream outdoor space to life? With the DecorMatters app, you can plan, visualize, and design every detail — from smart layouts to cozy patios and fire features. Download the app today and turn your backyard into a personalized oasis, no design experience needed.

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