How to Upgrade Your Back Garden ~ Fresh Design Blog

If you’re one of the 87% of UK households that enjoys access to a garden, chances are you’ll be planning on making the most of it in the next few months – whatever the weather, and whatever its condition. But there are some of you itching for a change, and maybe paralysed by choice. What changes could you make to your garden to have it stand out amongst the rest?

Re-Pave Your Patio

An audacious re-think of your garden spaces requires audacious action – so why not start with the big stuff. If you feel like your patio area has gotten a bit dull and lifeless over the past few years, a pressure-wash alone may not cut it. Replacing your flagstones with new paving, though, could give your patio the uplift it so desperately needs.

Indian sandstone paving slabs are distinctive, easy to procure and instantly beautiful when laid for a patio. If you’re doing this yourself, though, you should be mindful of treating the slabs properly for best results. They need to be treated with an appropriate Indian stone sealer in order to protect them from the elements, and preserve their hue.

Create an Outdoor Kitchen

Your garden can be a beautiful space to occupy year-round, but it will unavoidably receive the most use during the summer months – being the perfect season for barbecues. But if you’re looking to curate an utterly unique garden, you should be thinking outside the box when it comes to outdoor cooking. Why settle for a simple grill, when you could be building a full-on outdoor kitchen?

Your outdoor kitchen needn’t be too complicated, though. You could simply build yourself some worktops for ease of food preparation, and a permanent brick grill for cooking on. Including a chiminea enables you to bake outdoors, and digging a small, covered pit nearby gives you a natural pantry for keeping food and beverages cool as you like.

Build a Pergola

Come rain or shine, providing shelter and shade makes your garden a truly versatile space, and one that’s easy to enjoy in all weathers. But gazebos are a predictable, outmoded and ultimately boring form of shelter. Instead, you should think about building a pergola over your decking or patio.

Pergolas have become increasingly popular in beer gardens and outdoor spaces for independent hospitality venues, being relatively cheap and easy to build DIY. Pergolas are also eminently easy to customise, though, meaning you can build a fun form of shelter to your exact specifications – giving your garden a completely unique and practical form of furniture.

Utilise Outdoor Lighting

Lastly, the prevalence of solar- and battery-powered lighting products means it’s easier than ever to illuminate the darker parts of your garden. You can be clever with the kinds of lighting available on the market, in order to create a unique vibe with placement and colour. You could wrap fairy lights around tree branches to create clouds of light in the garden, or even line flowerbeds with ethereal coloured lights.

0