One of the biggest trends in home renovations in recent years is the installation of large glass walls or big bi-fold doors. And no wonder when you consider the benefits.
- The uninterrupted views help to extend your indoor space into the outdoors – making your home feel larger and more open.
- The landscape you look out onto creates a calming atmosphere in your home.
- Flora and fauna in your garden provide ever-changing visual interest, especially as seasons change.
- It’s easier to keep an eye on what’s going on in the garden – whether that’s mischievous children or curious foxes.
- You feel more connected with nature and inspired to go outside and enjoy relaxing or socialising in a green space.
So, if you’re someone who has recently updated your home to make the most of your views, how do you now create that connection between indoors and out? Well, we have a few tricks and tips to share with you.
1. Choose your materials wisely
One of the most important things when blurring lines between your home and your garden is to choose complementary materials so that the eye isn’t jarred. If inside you have polished concrete floors or worktops, then try using concrete in your garden. This could be something as simple as adding concrete planters or using concrete to create retaining walls or bespoke outdoor seating.
If you have exposed brick walls, consider using bricks for paving. Or use the same decorative tiles that you have indoors outside in the garden. This is especially effective if you have an outdoor kitchen area and want to create an attractive splashback.
Matching your indoor flooring with outdoors is another simple trick to create the feeling of a continuous space. Using something like porcelain tiles is a great way to achieve a harmonious blend. These exceptionally hard-wearing, slip free, scratch resistant tiles come in a wealth of colours, sizes, finishes (matt, satin, glazed) and effects (wood, stone, brick), so are easy to match with every style and taste.
When it comes to flooring, something to also consider is creating a level transition between home and garden where possible. A step free access to the garden helps with creating flow, as well as being a safer trip free option. Raising a patio area or creating low steps from home into the garden is something that can help achieve this and become a feature in themselves.
2. Extend your interior design style outdoors.
If you’ve extended or renovated indoors, it’s likely that you’ve also applied a fresh new style to your home. Now it’s time to take that same style outside.
Garden furniture
There’s a huge choice of garden furniture in wood, rattan, aluminium, or steel that can be chosen to complement your indoor style. If you’re a bit of a lounge lizard, then big comfy low slung outdoor sofas allow to you chill out and relax. If you’re a world-class entertainer, then perhaps a dining set is more your thing. Whether that’s a long trestle table with reclaimed chairs, or a bistro table for two. Then don’t forget those individual items that add a little uniqueness and interest, such as a garden pod, a hammock seat or simple garden bench.
Soft furnishings
An easy way to achieve an instant and cost-effective blend is to match you soft furnishing inside and out. Using similar colours and patterns on items such as garden rugs, outdoor cushions and throws, can quickly connect your spaces and create a beautiful and inviting outdoor space.
Accessories
It’s not just the soft furnishings that help. Garden accessories such as dining sets, vases, sculptures, and mirrors not just dress a space, but allow you to extend your personal style to your garden and create the ambient vibe you desire. You could create a colourful party garden theme, a Zen like garden complete with Buddha statues, or Moroccan riad with day bed, floor cushions and water feature.
Colour schemes
Another effective way to connect the two spaces is to inject the same pops of colour between the two. If you have a feature wall inside using a strong colour, why not put that same colour onto your fence. Or use it to paint a pergola?
And don’t forget your planting schemes. Trees, shrubs, flowers, fruit and vegetables are a vital component of adding colour. Careful selection can mean you have something beautiful to look at all year round. From tulips, daffodils, and blossom in spring, to an eruption of colour from perennials in summer, a profusion of fruit and warm tones of dahlias in early autumn, followed by stunning autumnal leaf colour, before evergreens and glowing stems of cornus come into their own in winter.
3. Use the power of lighting
Nothing’s more important than lighting your garden well if you plan on spending large amounts of time outdoors. Adding external lights extends the time you can use your garden and creates pockets of interest which look good viewed both from indoors and outside.
The trick is to create an inviting, well-lit and cosy garden with a well thought out lighting scheme.
- Think about using different styles of lighting at different levels of brightness and colour. This will help to draw the eye to certain areas and bring colour and vibrancy at night.
- Consider adding lights which blend with your style. For example, festoon lights, hung around your garden, are discreet but add gentle illumination that create a vintage/festival vibe. Moroccan lanterns hung strategically help to create a warm and cosy feel. Brighter LED lights can help light task areas or add security to dark corners.
- If you’ve got a favourite tree or garden feature, then why not use lights to highlight it at night. Spike lights can be placed at the root of any big plant, tree, or feature to illuminate it and emphasise it’s silhouette.
- Lights can be used to help create paths around your garden starting from your home. This helps to invite people outside feeling confident that they can see where they’re going and not going to trip over a rogue stone or knobbly tree root.
When it comes to outdoor lighting, you can be spoilt for choice. To help find something that inspires you feel free to check out our blog https://thamesvalleylandscapes.co.uk/in-the-night-garden/.
4. Zone your garden into outdoor living spaces
This is your chance to take your indoor living spaces outside. By creating an outdoor, open-air version of your indoor lifestyle it’s even easier to be enticed into the garden when the weather is good.
For example, with a fully equipped, purpose built outdoor kitchen and dining area you simply need to add food, drink and friends for a great night in. No digging around in the back of the shed for the BBQ, no lugging cooking equipment up and down the garden. Just fire up the big green egg, pop a burger on the grill, pour a chilled glass of something nice and enjoy good company.
If you’ve been inspired to reinvent your garden view and would like some professional advice, then the team at Thames Valley Landscape is here to help. Just give us a call on 01628 629720, or enquire today.
