Why the right outdoor space changes everything.
By Emma, Founder of Trove Collective Co.
It's the back deck at golden hour, glass in hand, with nowhere to be. It's the kids disappearing outside after breakfast and not coming back until they're hungry. It's a long weekend morning with coffee and birdsong, or a summer evening that stretches on far longer than it should because nobody wants to go inside.
For our family, the outdoors isn't an afterthought. It's where life actually happens.
And if you've ever stayed at a beautiful glamping property or tucked yourself away at an eco-retreat, you already know this feeling. It's the reason people book those experiences in the first place. Not just to sleep somewhere different, but to feel something different. To slow down, breathe deeper and remember what it feels like to actually be outside.
We know what it means to build a home from the ground up
We've been through renovations, the real kind, where you're making a thousand decisions and living in the middle of organised chaos. Holding onto a vision of what the space will eventually become.
And one of the things we learned through that process is this: the outdoor space is almost always the last thing people think about and the first thing they wish they'd thought about sooner.
It's easy to pour everything into the interiors, the kitchen, the living room, the bedrooms, and treat the backyard or entertaining area as something to sort out later. But later has a way of never quite arriving. And in the meantime, you're missing out on some of the best space your home has to offer. In a country where the weather invites you outside for most of the year, that's a real loss.
The same is true for any outdoor property. Australian operators who create the most memorable guest experiences are the ones who treat their outdoor spaces with the same intention and care as every other part of their property. The fire pit placed just right. The lighting that transforms a site after dark. The sauna tucked into the bush that guests talk about for years.
A well-designed outdoor space doesn't just look good. It changes how people feel. It gives them somewhere to breathe, somewhere to gather, somewhere that feels genuinely considered and alive.
The caravan taught us something important
We travel in our caravan as a family and if you've ever spent time living simply in the Australian bush, on the coast, or somewhere in between, you'll know exactly what we mean when we say it recalibrates everything.
Out there, the outdoors isn't optional. It's the living room, the dining room, the kids' playground and the place where the best conversations happen. You wake up outside. You eat outside. You watch the stars from outside. And you come home from those trips with a renewed appreciation for every outdoor space you have.
It's that same magic that the best Australian glamping properties and eco-retreats bottle so beautifully. The canvas walls. The fire crackling outside. The festoon lights strung between the gum trees. These aren't just aesthetic choices, they're the details that create a feeling guests can't quite put into words but will never forget.
Nature has a way of reminding you what actually matters. Fresh air. Open space. Time together, away from screens and schedules. The simple pleasure of being somewhere beautiful.
That's the feeling we want to help create. For Australian families at home and for the operators building the outdoor experiences that people travel across the country for. And it's a big part of why Trove Collective Co. exists.
Bringing the retreat home and building retreats worth staying at
There's a reason glamping, eco-retreats and wellness spaces are one of the fastest growing sectors in Australian tourism right now. It's not about the tent or the location. It's about how those spaces make you feel. Considered. Calm. Connected to something slower and more intentional than everyday life.
For Australian homeowners, that feeling is closer than you think. The right lighting strung above your entertaining area. A space designed for sitting, breathing and being still. Small details that make an enormous difference to how a space feels and how often you actually use it.
For operators, those details are everything. They're what separates a property that guests book once from one they return to every year. They're what gets shared on Instagram, talked about at dinner parties and recommended to friends planning their next Australian getaway. The outdoor experience isn't a bonus, it's the product.
Why outdoor spaces deserve the same love as everything else
Whether you're styling a family backyard on the Mornington Peninsula or fitting out a glamping site in the Yarra Valley, the principle is the same. Think carefully about every detail. The lighting. The furniture. The fire pit that becomes the gathering point on a cool evening. The sauna that becomes the reason guests extend their stay.
These aren't small things. They're the details that make an outdoor space feel intentional rather than incidental. Designed rather than just assembled. Loved rather than just maintained.
At Trove Collective Co, every product in our range has been chosen with exactly that in mind. Beautiful enough to belong in a well-considered space. Built well enough to handle real Australian outdoor conditions, season after season.
Emma Founder, Trove Collective Co.
