Enjoying the Outdoors

Outdoor living is becoming increasingly popular. Being able to extend the living areas of your house (i.e. sitting, dining, and children’s play area) to the outside is both healthy and exciting, and the creativity of this space has no rules and is left to your imagination.

The space on the outside can be worked to suit any purpose and whether you are working with softscape or hardscape you can accomplish the goal of this extension easily, effortlessly and inexpensively.

Softscape, as the name implies, is the soft part of your landscape i.e. sandy and grassy area, while hardscape is the hard part i.e. concrete, paving stones etc. depending on what you want for your home, you can make use of softscape or hardscape or a combination of both.

Creating the perfect outdoor space does not require much thought, but depending on what you want to achieve, a few factors need to be put into consideration:

·         The amount of space you have to work with
·         Your lifestyle: for example are you the hospitable type, or do have to entertain guests regularly?
·         Do you have kids?
·         Do you have pets like dogs, cats etc?

The architectural design of your building is important because, you wouldn’t want a contradiction of styles between the design of the building and the design of the landscape e.g. Victorian style architecture and modernistic design of the garden, but, if you decide to, you will have to find a balance between the two budgets.

Elements that enhance your outdoor living experience include:
           
     Garden features; paths, walls, fencing etc.
·         Garden structures; patios, gazebos, pergolas etc.
·         Garden furniture; tables and chairs, deck beds, hammocks etc.
·         Lawn
·         Pools and water features
·         Rock gardens
·         Trees and shrubs gardens
·         Flower gardens
·         Fruits or vegetable gardens.

There are different ways of using and combining these elements, depending on scale, purpose and interest, as each potential space has its peculiar brief.  Your garden defines outdoor space in the same way that soft furnishing beautifies indoor space.

Successful design, construction and implementation have the ability to delineate space in a way that brings continuity and flow between the house and garden. It fortifies the functionality of the garden, pulling the use out as a participant rather than a mere observer. The results are usually very immediate, and in most cases, permanent.

Properly selected and directed lighting inspires an entirely different aura in the outdoor space at night – one that might be overlooked or perceived quite differently during daylight. Lighting has the duplicity of being theatrical and aesthetic, as well as being used for safety conventions – illuminating areas of transition, elevation changes, and/or barriers. So expand your horizons and perceptions! There is much more to the landscape process than most would imagine. Great interest and delight await all who want to transpose that outdoor space into areas that can so easily provide you with inspiration, relaxation, reflection, and repose.


At Rosemary’s we delight in transforming your home and office into a haven even with a limited budget. We also offer consultancy and advisory services on all aspects of interior decoration. Call us today on 08033069199 or 08169308907. #AskRosemarys

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