Want to create a room that blends seamlessly with the garden beyond? Doing so will make your interior space feel bigger, brighter and contemporary – and it will draw attention to your garden beyond, too. Here’s how. By Sarah Warwick
1. Don’t clutter large windows
You needn’t have a home like this one to have large windows – any French doors or large picture windows that overlook a garden should be kept clear of clutter to show off the space beyond to best effect. Keep curtains and blinds to a minimum too – ideally, chose something that can be pulled right up or right back, such as shutters or roller blinds.
2. Fit folding doors
Folding glass doors that cantilever right back so as to be unobtrusive when open are the key to merging indoors with out.
3. Use the same flooring indoors & out
Choosing a flooring that can run from the inside of your home right outdoors will also help merge spaces – combine this with doors that open right back and the transition is seamless.
4. Co-ordinate your furniture with outdoors
Use mid–toned wood indoors to match plants on your patio – it’s even worth painting your walls and fences in similar tones.
5. Use green to link the spaces
Using green at your windows will help bring the garden and indoors together too. That could mean blinds or even painting the walls around the windows green.
6. Buy garden furniture that’s smart enough for indoors
Choosing garden furniture that would look just as good indoors is a trick that you can use to blur the indoor/outdoor divide. Look for furniture indoors that complements your garden furniture, too.
7. Keep the levels the same
As well as choosing flooring that’s the same material indoors and out, ensure your garden and living space are at exactly the same level – doing so will be not just more convenient, but will help lead the eye outdoors, making the indoor space feel bigger.
8. Use lots of glass
Putting as much glass as possible into the room that leads to the garden inevitably brings the outdoors in. If you do this, ensure your view is a good one – even if that just means a small, but neat garden.
9. Buy low furniture
The layout of your room might mean that you have to have furniture across the windows. Make the most of the view by choosing a low-slung sofa from The Conran Shop and keep the room as free of clutter as possible.
10. Add lots of plants
Large, healthy pot plants indoors will ensure that your indoor living space feels more like a conservatory – and therefore linked to the garden. This is a cheap trick that anyone can copy, no matter what the architecture of their home is like.
Read more posts by mydeco.
