Trend Watch: Seamless Indoor Outdoor Living

If it’s high time you had a new look in your home, but you also want to refresh your garden spaces, I’ve got the perfect solution for you! Let me introduce you to the trend of creating a seamless indoor outdoor space…

 

 

When it’s sunny outside, there’s nothing nicer than sitting out in the garden with friends and family and catching some rays, with an ice cold drink at hand and a BBQ sizzling softly in the background. A lot of us haven’t utilised our outdoor areas, though. The best a lot of us manage is a couple of patio chairs on the grass.

Recently, it’s been made apparent that a well thought-out garden can actually act as extra living space – and this increases the value of the home! So it makes a lot of financial sense to create usable space outdoors. But how best to do so? That’s where the indoor outdoor trend comes into play!

 

The indoor outdoor trend

You may have caught a TV show on channel 4 lately called ‘Inside Out Homes’. The focus behind the entire series was the seamless integration between indoor and outdoor areas. The idea that we can use external areas as additional rooms, as if they were in the home – whether we create an outdoor dining area, or living room, or even games room.

 

outdoor-tiles-wood-kitchen

 

At the Ideal Home Show, the Good Homes Room Sets (2 images above and 1 below) had a kitchen room and an ‘outdoor’ room side by side, with the same Parlor Wood Effect Tiles running between them at the same height, with a patio door dividing them. When the door was open, you could step between the two areas as if they were one – and this ‘seamless’ indoor outdoor integration is a major design trend!

So if the room that opens out onto your garden (be it the kitchen, dining room or living area) could do with a refresh, why not install some new floor tiles, and have them carry out onto an exterior terrace / platform? You may need to have builders raise your outdoor patio area for a truly seamless look, but this shouldn’t prove too expensive.

 

Why integrate the garden into the home?

Living space has never been more in demand. With house prices going up, those of us looking for a little more breathing room in our homes are having to get more creative with the space available to us.

That’s why it’s a growing trend to expand outdoors into our gardens, and to create a blended transition between our indoor and outside areas. It’s called ‘seamless living.’

 

indoor outdoor living

 

How to create a seamless transition between home and garden

So it’s all well and good saying that you need to ‘blend the lines’ between your home and garden – but how do you actually go about doing that?

A lot of it comes down to the flooring – the most popular way is to have a floor covering in your interior spaces that continues, at the same height and level, outside in the exterior area. If your budget allows for it, you could fit a new bi-fold door to help decrease the interference between the two spaces.

 

Uses for your new outdoor space

So, once you’ve created your outdoor patio area, what can you do with it?

You coukd choose to create an outdoor sitting area, with a coffee table that is suitable for use outdoors, surrounded by external armchairs. Perfect for enjoying a glass of wine and a chat with friends and family, whilst lapping up the sun! You could even break out a board game, so long as there’s no breeze to carry away the Monopoly money!

 

outdoor-living-space-tiles

 

Another great use of a garden patio or platform is to create an al fresco dining area! Most furniture shops will have external table options. There’s nothing nicer than having a meal outdoors in the sunshine! I recently stayed at Christmas Hall – a Suffolk mansion that you can rent out for weddings and other events. And the best part of the weekend? All the outdoor dining on the 30-seater external table!

 

parlor wood effect tiles

Above: Parlor Wood Effect Tiles

 

Protect against the weather

Worried about bad British weather or dreaded drizzle spoiling your time outdoors? Don’t worry – there are options!

Firstly, you could erect a gazebo. Not one of those light, cheap plastic ones with the green and white striping – they get carried away by the wind, and they rip easily. Instead, spend a little extra, and get a metal-framed gazebo with a nice canvas overlay. You can get gazebos with ornate metal legs.

 

cellar-door-luxury-wood-tiles-cherished-balau-wood-effect-tile-1000

Above: Cellar Door Wood Effect Tiles

 

Secondly, you could invest in a large parasol – these are great for protecting you from the sun, as well as light rain.

Thirdly, if your outdoor patio space is smallish, and sits towards the side of the house, you could fit an awning that comes out over it!

So there you have it – an introduction to the indoor outdoor trend, and the idea of having a floor space that seamlessly transitions between your home and a useful outdoor area that you can enjoy all year round!

 

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