If you love your garden, you’ll often find yourself wishing that there was a way to spend even more time in it and enjoy its pleasures as a part of your everyday activities.
Well, there is – and it’s all part of a growing trend among gardeners and interiors experts to blur the lines between indoors and outdoors, creating beautiful, multi-functional spaces that serve the needs of our families and allow us to enjoy more outdoor living.
When planning your ideal outdoor living space, there are lots of options to consider, and taking the time to prepare carefully will ensure that you can maximise your budget and create a space ideally suited to your needs.
Outdoors In or Indoors Out?
When considering expanding your living space in this way, the first thing to consider is whether you’re going to try and bring a typical indoor function outside – like installing an outdoors kitchen – or bring the outside more into the home.
Usually, the first route involves creating a functional structure within the garden space and may be more suited to countries with consistently good weather. The reverse solution can be created a little more smoothly.
The most usual method is adding an extension opening onto the garden or fitting bi-fold doors and then using devices such as decking or all-weather tiling to provide a sense of continuity between the inner and outer spaces so that when the internal is opened up the effect is a seamless flow into the outdoor area.
Design Elements Set the Tone
The ideal in each of these scenarios to create a sense of unity between the house and garden, and this is achievable when you look at harmonizing the design elements.
First of all, consider the flooring. Could you match a painted wooden floor indoors to seamless decking outside? Perhaps extend a tiled finish into the garden? Think about using color to unite the two spaces – a nice striped upholstery on kitchen chairs could also be used to cover outside seating cushions and visually tie the two areas together. Another idea is to use potted plants and small trees in planters both inside and outside the space for continuity.
An often-overlooked element of design is lighting. Accent lighting can be used in the garden as well as inside the house to stunning effect. Solar lighting is hugely useful in a garden and can provide guidance through space and highlight key features.
Consider the use of a firepit, mirroring any indoor fireplace, or at a more fundamental level how candles in large [amazon_textlink asin=’B003F4XWKS’ text=’storm lanterns’ template=’ProductLink’ store=’mygardening411-21′ marketplace=’UK’ link_id=’da632728-ae05-11e7-840b-4de4f07a1df7′] can provide moveable lighting that works indoors or out.
Creating a Garden Room
Creating a sheltered garden room or enclosed patio space is a great way to build an outdoor entertaining area.
Insulated wall panels can help to lower energy costs while blending the patio space into the house. There are lots of options available at every budget level, so make sure that you work with professional patio builders to design and install something that works for the space you have available.
Make sure you have adequate materials to ensure that your new space is usable in all weather conditions and at all times of the year as well.
