With summer approaching more of us will be spending time outside, but with indoor-outdoor design you can incorporate the great outdoors into your home all year round. Indoor-outdoor design might seem strange in a British climate, but it’s increasingly popular in contemporary properties. This design style is about more than just utilising good weather, it aims to create a seamless transition from the outside into your home, increasing natural light and giving the illusion of a more spacious property.

The primary way indoor-outdoor design works is by connecting the two spaces, so it’s important to keep clear sightlines between inside and outside the home. Full width doors are a great way to achieve this. Bi fold doors offer an unobstructed view out and maximise natural light in the property. With their concertina effect you can smoothly transition into your garden, which is perfect in the warmer months when a patio area can become an extension of your living space. Although available in aluminium, a timber frame can be a great option if you’d like to bring natural materials into your interior.

Alongside full width doors, large scale windows are another way to bring the outdoors in. Not only do floor to ceiling windows allow light into your home, but they also give the illusion of a bigger property and can be an impressive visual addition to a room. With any windows it’s important to consider placement and glazing to make sure you’re getting the most efficient use of them. Bespoke windows can be installed throughout the home. This visual designed for a South London loft conversion includes a custom window designed to frame the garden. This creates a brighter space, whilst utilising the view as a focal point of the room.

An extension is a great opportunity to consider the benefits of a feature such as a glass wall or glass roof, adding both style and value to your property. This 3D visual showcases an extension designed for a home in Hackney with the combination of an exposed brick interior and all-glass roof. It perfectly brings the outdoors in whilst making sure the home is equipped for the colder months. Exposed brick and other natural materials can be a fantastic addition to your design. Incorporating traditionally external materials into your home helps distort the boundary between the inside and out.

Flooring is another way you can strengthen the visual connection between the spaces. This works particularly well if you’re planning to use a stone flooring, matched to the patio you’ll create the illusion of a bigger space by blurring the divide with your garden. This can be a little trickier when working with wood, it’s unlikely the type you’d want for the inside would be durable enough for outdoor use. To combat this, you can look for complimentary woods and create the cohesion by cutting them to the same width and placing them to run in the same direction.  Another hard-wearing option for a wood effect that will survive a UK winter is considering wood-imitating porcelain tiles. They can provide the look of real timber with the durability needed to use both indoors and out.

Bringing greenery into your home can be easily effective for indoor-outdoor design. Well placed indoor plants can distract from areas where the spaces seem divided and help bring the outdoor colour palette inside. The inclusion of plants inside your home can bring some much-needed natural textures and shapes to your design, with plants such as an aloe vera or a cactus a great option if you’re looking for a low maintenance option. Along the same lines, earth toned furnishings can also help the two areas flow into one unified space. It’s important with indoor-outdoor design to consider how you can use your interior finishes to marry your garden space with the inside to reduce the two-looking disconnected.

Our team are experienced in designing for a variety of traditional and contemporary styles. To speak to us about your home you can get in touch with us on 0207 043 2378 or email at hello@hometales.co.uk. Alternatively, our live diary enables you to book a consult instantly to schedule a call from a design and planning expert to discuss your home renovation project.