Do you need an extra room?
If you are short of living space,especially if you live in London, you may wish to treat a small back garden primarily as an extra living room, or as an extension of a kitchen-dining room, especially in warm weather. In this case a glazed (or better still, double-glazed) door into the garden gives a sense of extra space and continuity where a conventional wooden door would act as a view-stopper. Sometimes it is possible to use flooring to add to this sense of continuity. Quarry tiles on the kitchen floor can be continued outside to form a small patio, and possibly link up with cobbles and brickwork to make a patterned garden floor.
The mini-garden that is used as a ‘room’ has to provide several of the functions of a real room. Warmth, privacy and shelter can be given by high walls or palings. For a verandah effect, cover a third or half the garden with a pergola or some other roof structure. This can be glazed, fitted with pull down slatted wooden or canvas sun blinds, or twined with climbing plants. If there is sufficient shelter, outdoor cooking may be possible. This could be on a brick barbecue built along one wall, or on a simple brick or tiled counter top fitted with outlet sockets for various plug-in appliances, (Remember to use special outdoor plugs and sockets installed by professional and qualified electricians.) In an extra ‘room’ of this kind, seating is important.
Mini-gardens often belong to smallish houses so that, while there is plenty of attractive garden furniture available, finding somewhere to store it is a problem. An alternative to the white-painted iron seat, or teak bench, that can be left out all year round, is built-in seating. A brick or concrete block bench down the length of one wall can be softened with a scatter of gingham cushions for impromptu outdoor meals, and double as a parking place for glasses if you have a small drinks party-or even, since your outdoor room is still a garden, as a table for plant pots !
The outdoor room being built
London Builders Robuild can provide you with a free Design and Estimate for your building project.The outdoor rooms can be used as offices, gyms, etc.We also build Garden office and Garden Gyms to high standards.