Webphotos Free Articles

BRINGING THE OUTSIDE IN

Gardens should be created not just for their impact when you're outside!
Most people in fact spend a great deal of time looking out to their garden from inside the house; and good design should always take this into account.

You can make a garden seem bigger by creating the illusion that something beyond the garden is within your property. Alternatively, you can make the garden seem as though it is inside the house.

HOW TO EXTEND YOUR GARDEN

*Knock out a wall of the house and put in a big window

*Cut plants back from windows so you can see out… maximize ability to see the garden from the house.

*Re-develop the garden/prune, plant etc, to create vistas from the house.

*Position features (fountain, statue, Tromp l’oeil, Mirror etc) that can be seen better or with more effect from in the house.

*Remove curtains / replace frosted glass to improve view outside; then build a fence outside to maintain privacy.

*Think about having a shower and being able to look straight into the garden… can be a great feeling, as long as people walking down the street can’t see in as easily as you can see out!

*Put one way mirrors into windows

*Add garden lighting outside so you have a picture to look at in the garden at night.

*Place plants with large leaves in the foreground and plants with small leaves in the background. This will create the illusion of depth.

*The illusion of depth can also be created by having light coloured foliage in the foreground and dark foliage as a backdrop.

DECIDING HOW TO EXTEND YOUR GARDEN

Think about the type of room and the type of view you get from that room...

*What outside view do you want to be looking at when you're eating a meal, lying in bed, sitting at a desk, etc?

*How does the colour scheme in the room fit with the view from that room?

*How does the style of the room fit with the view? (You don’t want to be sitting in a conservatively furnished room looking out at an ultra modern, minimalist garden.)