How to make the most of your outdoor space

How to Make the Most of Your Outside Space

If staying in is the new going out, it’s important to keep your home in tip-top condition – that includes the exterior. 

Outdoor Enjoyment

There are a wide variety of benefits to outdoor living at home, ranging from the social aspect of wining and dining to the health benefits associated with the open air.

Whether you’re planning a family barbeque or simply looking to create a space in which you can relax and unwind, messy surroundings can ruin the atmosphere before it even gets started.

Don’t let your garden become a wasteland of weeds and broken dreams. Make your outdoor space the place to be with these handy hints and trendy tips, guaranteed to give your garden a new lease on life.

Deck Out Your Garden

Perhaps the most popular outdoor design option in the world, garden decking has been a staple of external properties for generations – and it’s easy to see why.

Sleek, stylish and sturdy, decking has long been the go-to option for many homeowners looking to breathe some life into their outdoor space.

However, not all decking is created equal. In fact, thanks to advancements in modern technology, new innovations have effectively revolutionised the decking market.

While traditional timber benefits from its natural properties, providing a beautifully authentic finish, it also requires a lot of TLC to keep it in tip-top condition. 

Conversely, while plastic decking may provide a low-maintenance alternative, it’s far from a like for like substitute. Plastic has a tendency to bow and crack over time, while the aesthetic finish is often a million miles from awe-inspiring.

For the best of both worlds, it’s well worth checking out composite decking. A combination of real wood fibre with synthetic materials, the result is a product that boasts all the natural beauty of traditional timber with the modern durability of a man-made product.

Paving the Way

The yin to decking’s yang, outdoor paving is another hugely popular outdoor design option, providing stylish personality and practical performance in equal measure.

Much like the decking route, paving has also come along leaps and bounds in recent years, with the introduction of vitrified porcelain paving dragging outdoor paving into the new millennium kicking and screaming.

Outdoor porcelain tiles offer you a world of designer freedom, allowing you to choose from a virtually limitless collection of colours, patterns and shapes. With porcelain tiles, you are limited only by your imagination.

Boasting enhanced thickness for additional durability, porcelain tiles are the perfect material for outdoor use. Fade, stain and abrasion resistant, they are also extremely capable in wet conditions and are more than equipped to withstand the elements.

Porcelain pavers also provide a consistent colouration throughout the entire slab, not just on the surface like traditional ceramic tiles. The result of this means that, in the unlikely event that your durable pavers do endure a chip, the consequences will be barely noticeable.

Bring the Outside Indoors

One of the main drawbacks of outdoor enjoyment is that it is very much weather dependant. If the skies grey over and rainclouds form, they can put a very literal dampener on your plans in an instant.

British weather is notoriously unpredictable, even in the summertime; however, there is a great way to combat the elements and still reap the outdoor rewards.

If the open air is raining on your parade, why not take your outdoor enjoyment indoors with the aid of a veranda?

Verandas have become increasingly popular in recent years, allowing Brits to enjoy their gardens in sheltered comfort – whatever the weather.

What’s more, these outdoor additions can also be upgraded with glass sliding walls on the front and sides to create a stunning garden room for versatile, all-season relaxation.

Whether you go for the traditional veranda or the garden room option, these enclosures provide the protective shelter of an indoor space within the outdoor setting of your garden environment.

Meanwhile, when the weather is hot, a veranda/garden room can also offer the perfect shaded sanctuary from the summer sun.

Combining Your Options

With so many design options to choose from in terms of sprucing up your outdoor living space, settling on a single route to go down can be a challenge in itself. That being said, who says you have to settle on just one?

Garden “zoning” has become an increasingly popular concept in recent years and is based entirely around the idea of splitting your garden into designated areas.

If budget and space allow, there’s no reason why you can’t incorporate two or even all three of these options into your outdoor design.

After all, your home is your castle – why not create a garden that’s fit for a king?