A timber garden room is a superb way to enhance your home, providing a practical extra space for work, hobbies, storage, entertainment, relaxation and leisure. It’s a significant addition to your garden, and you will therefore want to ensure that it harmonises seamlessly with its surroundings.
This will provide you with a perfectly blended indoor and outdoor space that is as beautiful as it is functional, and truly complements your house and garden. Here are some top tips to bear in mind.
Consider the positioning
The positioning of your garden room may be largely dictated by the size and layout of your garden. However, if you have a sizable garden with various possible locations, it’s important to put some thought into the placement of the garden room. Ideally, you want it situated where it will have good natural light but not be in the full glare of the summer afternoon sun.
Consider the privacy of the position; ensuring that it is not too overlooked nor compromising your neighbour’s privacy. You may be able to provide additional shelter or privacy with tall shrubs, trees, or trellises and screens. Last but not least, check out the view…you want to enjoy the beauty of your garden rather than sit looking at next door’s shed.
Add a patio or decking area
A garden room without a surrounding patio or decking area can look rather out of place and isolated. If your structure has French doors or sliding patio doors, then a veranda or deck area provides a natural transition of the outdoor and indoor space. It is also a very practical feature, allowing you to create a summer outdoor living area for relaxing and socialising.
Choose materials that complement the design of your garden room and also its surroundings, such as timber or natural stone. You may also choose to install a canopy, either as a permanent timber structure or as a fixed awning.
This provides a sheltered outdoor seating area where you can entertain in the summertime, while reserving the indoor area for other uses such as a home gym, a craft room, or a home office.
Blend with planting and landscaping
Surrounding your garden room with well chosen plants, shrubs and trees can help to soften the feature and integrate it with the surrounding area. Choose plants with a range of heights, textures and colours to provide contrast and add interest.
Bring in a range of seasonal plants, with a good mixture of evergreen and winter or early spring flowering shrubs so that you have year-round colour. Also consider the view from inside the garden room to ensure that you have a pleasing outlook. You may even want to consider adding a water feature to bring a touch of tranquil beauty to the view.
Choose complementary hardscaping features
Hardscaping refers to features such as paths, walls, fences, and patios. For example, a pathway that links your home and your garden room will draw the two structures together and enhance the harmony and flow of your outdoor space.
It’s also a practical feature that will protect your lawn from wear and tear and prevent mud and soil from being transferred to your indoor spaces. Choose materials that complement both your house and the garden room, such as natural stone stepping stones, gravel, or decking.
Integrate colours and materials throughout your outdoor space
Draw your outside space together by using similar materials throughout for fencing, gates, sheds, trellises, and so on. If your garden building is painted a particular colour or shade of wood stain, use it consistently throughout your garden features to create a sense of continuity and cohesion.
You may choose to blend the colours and finishes throughout the garden with existing features on your house, such as the colour of the doors or window frames or the roof tiles.
Use lighting to create balance and harmony
During warmer weather, you may want to use your garden room after dark, and in the winter you will want to make the most of the view of your garden. Therefore consider installing some soft uplighting to highlight features such as paths, patios, water features, flower beds, or trees.