With summer here, we’re taking a deep dive — yes, that’s a pool reference — into outdoor design trends this season. As always, there are plenty of chic ways to express your personality, whether you’re feeling like a Palm Beach doyenne, a socialite in Capri, or any other number of fantasy characters you might want to inhabit this year. Below, browse some of our favorite picks for summer 2021, and be sure to shop our full outdoor category to find thousands of stylish choices in every category.
New England Summer
The Vineyard, the Cape… only Nantucket needs a proper name to know where you’re talking about. There’s maybe no place so closely associated with summer-y Americana than New England, with Cape Cod-style homes, clambakes, and the Kennedys. The palette here embraces a classic yet sophisticated red-white-and-blue and features plenty of picnic pieces, loungers, and nautical-inspired elements.
Palm Beach Refined
Forget the punchy, colorful Floridian style (for just a moment — promise we’ll get there soon). The Palm Beach Refined style embraces Neoclassicism with clean lines and a more restrained color palette (white, taupe, gray, mint). It’s almost like Art Deco meeting a touch of ancient Greek architecture transported to Florida—now that’s old money.
Palm Beach Pattern
Now there’s the Palm Beach palette we all know and love—thank you, Lilly Pulitzer. The Queen of Prep is our Virgil here, guiding us through every level of showy 60s-style glam with exuberance and whimsy. The style’s still sophisticated and preppy, designed to make guests smile. As Lilly said, “not always sunny, but always in a sunny state of mind.”
Relaxed California Villa
It’s where coastal California meets the Italian coastline… style-wise, of course. Imagine overgrown bougainvillea, vine-covered stucco, languorous late dinners, and plenty of white wine on hot days. The al fresco vibe here is all about casual elegance and California cool, with block prints, wicker pieces, and terracotta.
Palm Springs Modern
There’s maybe nowhere on earth that truly says midcentury like Palm Springs, and that’s precisely what we adore about it. Citrus-colored furnishings refresh you like sorbet in the summer heat: Expect plenty of limes, lemons, and peach shades, alongside all the curvy, groovy furniture you can handle. Nights are spent alongside a geometric firepit, with oversized cushions and a round of retro cocktails in highball glasses.
Island Oasis
The joyfulness of the sun-soaked Bahamas comes to life in this style, which is all about bright days spent surrounded by shades of pink, white, and baby blue. Count on seeing plenty of pineapple motifs everywhere from serving plates to table lamps, alongside Chinese Chippendale chairs and more rattan and wicker than you can… well… shake a stick at.
Beach Holiday Italian Style
Embrace your inner Lord Byron and transport yourself to the Amalfi Coast (well… stylistically), with a beach getaway as only the Italians can do it. Incorporate plenty of lemon yellow, beige, and white, alongside sophisticated stripes, pottery, and classic terracotta. Even if you can’t bring the picnic to Positano right now, you can always bring Positano to the picnic.
