Design Yourself a Gorgeous Terrace

Whether you have a large family with children or you live by yourself, I’m pretty certain that most of you want to be able to dine and entertain outside during the summer.  Now that our minds are on the sunshine and warmth, I thought it might be helpful to give you a few design tips to consider if you’re trying to create the perfect terrace.

1.  Where to position your terrace or patio is the first thing to consider as the area outside your back door might not be the most appropriate place.  A south-facing terrace is going to be in full sun at lunchtime so you need to decide whether or not you can bear to be in the sunshine when you’re eating.  Sure you can use an umbrella, but this will only take away the direct sun, it won’t stop the heat.  Dappled shade can of course be created with careful planting, but if you prefer a shady space for lunch, it might be more appropriate to locate the terrace in a different part of the garden, perhaps one that is shaded at lunchtime, but allows you to enjoy the warmth of the evening sun in the height of summer.

2.  The next consideration is the size of the terrace.  Think about how many people you want to seat around your table.  If you want to seat 6, for example, a table measuring 1.8m x 1m will require a 5m x 4m terrace to ensure that you can walk around the table when people are sitting there.  The general rule is that you allow 1.5m around each side of the table.

3.  If you are planning your terrace by the house make sure you allow provision, where possible, for planting beds against the house wall.  If hard landscaping sit directly next to a wall it’s very harsh, sending your eye up the house wall and out of the space.  Planing will not only soften the overall look, but it will also keep the eye in the space.  The same applies to areas where lawn meets terrace – a planting bed between the two will give the garden more dimension and define each area as separate spaces.

4.  Think about the materials you want to use and choose them carefully.  Get samples and bring them home so that you can look at them against the house wall.  Be aware that the colour of stone changes when it’s wet so be sure you like it come rain or shine.

5.  If you want to put pots and other things on the terrace, a BBQ for example, make sure you consider this within the design.  If they don’t have a designated space they’ll just feel like clutter!