Summer’s well on its way, and that means there’s never been a better time to redesign your garden. With so many of us stuck at home, and just itching to get active, why not take the plunge and do it yourself?
Never considered yourself creative? Whether you’re completely new to garden design or you’re ready to up your game, we’re here to help you. Our Pavingsuperstore.com experts give their best tips and suggestions for what we consider the 4 Garden Design Essentials that every home should have.
Let’s look at how you can choose the ideal paving, walling, pool coping, and finishing touches to maximize your outdoor space and transform it into an at-home haven!
Paving
The right paving is a critical element in great design. Whether it’s your patio, courtyard, or poolside, paving is often underrated, but plays a huge role by setting the color scheme and tone for your home’s exterior.
Choose a shade that you’d like to work with, then build on your chosen palette with complementary or contrasting features, edging, coping, and walling for a great foundation for your whole outside space.
Neutral shades are always a great start for any space. With gorgeous grays like the ‘De Terra’ Sahara collection offers, to the warmer buff hues of the ‘De Terra’ Lakeland Collection, understated tones create a calming, inviting climate that can easily be added to or muted for effect.
Your choice of materials here will set the tone for the rest of your outdoor living area, and it’s possible to create a classic feel for the rest of your space, or go minimalist with any neutral shade. Choose natural stone paving such as Steel Blue limestone or textured Harvest sandstone for a more timeless aura, or go with porcelain like the Vitripiazza Tempesta range for a more modern and cleaner, minimalist finish.
Walling
If you’ve got your paving down-pat, walling is a breeze. Keep it simple with a whole range of walling from the same paving collections, and if you’re feeling arty, add focal elements to draw the eye.
Pier caps are a great way to add form and feature to your walling – Classicstone Harvest pier caps, for instance, give a romantic Athenian finish – and are infinitely versatile. Adorn your stairs, deck out your front entry, or create a driveway that invites and speaks to the imagination.
Walling is a great place to start adding eye-catching flair, too, and veneer walling gives a surface finish that can truly elevate with texture and detail. Easy to install and crafted from long-lasting natural stone, the ‘Lamina Veneer’ Autumn range is an eco-friendly way to add instant class and value with an exterior facade.
Pool Coping
With pool coping, safety always comes first. Ideally, it should be easy to clean and as low-absorbency as possible for a long, low-maintenance life. We recommend choosing natural stone options if you’re after durability and frost-resistance too – don’t forget about winter!
Choose pool coping to match your steps if you’re after the illusion of greater space or if you’re hoping to extend the eye with elegant lines. ‘Classicstone’ Golden Fossil pool coping is just one great example of Natural Paving’s extensive collection, which includes matching Golden Fossil step coping to maintain harmony and consistency.
We recommend only using pool coping that’s been tested for weather-resistance and shock-absorbency if you’re looking to extend the life of your products. That won’t limit your options either, as many manufacturers now offer a range of design options such as bullnose-, double-chisel, single-chisel, and eased edges within the one suite, such as the ‘Classicstone’ Lakeland coping by Natural Paving.
Feature Finishes
Features are the perfect finishing touch, and go miles to make your garden truly unique. Here’s where you can add lifestyle features such as fire pits and outdoor countertops to create spaces for all those family and social experiences you’ll always remember!
With firepit kits, there’s no longer any need to worry about putting them all together – today’s products require little more than a few hours and basic equipment like brush-in. Why not build your own cookout area with a matching firepit and dining space, weather-resistant and perfect for sunset grills?
As always, natural stone is perfect for outdoor feature finishes – ranges like the Classicstone Promenade fire pit and countertop won’t stain easily in the rain or with spills. If you’ve always longed for a place to channel your inner (outdoor!) chef at home, you can be hosting your own cookout for years!
Over To You
If you haven’t yet considered redesigning your outdoor living space, it’s time to get on board. Redesigning your garden – whether you do it all yourself or get a little professional help – is one of the most impactful ways to enhance its value and aesthetic appeal. From the smallest, simplest functional tweaks to a complete overhaul, investing a little time in the job can dramatically improve its functionality and appearance.
So why not get designing today?