Choosing a New Design for Your Home and Garden

While open plan living is often seen as desirable, would you want to live in a house where everything was in one room? Since separate living areas in your home are essential, why settle for less in your backyard? Separate, distinct lawn areas are great for those with big families, large social groups, or multiple outdoor interests. Here's how you can divide up your outdoor space into relaxation, socialisation and growing areas that work for you.

Containers

There's no need to turn your whole lawn into a garden for specialised plants just to grow a few flowers, fruits, and vegetables. You can keep your gardening separate to your living space by growing in containers. There are plenty of garden plants that can grow happily in pots or raised beds. With plant containers, you can control where your seeds end up and stop your whole garden from becoming overrun. You can even create your own green fencing with containers -- line up pots and fill them with tall plants to section off an area.

Flooring

Just like the inside of your house, the flooring you choose for different areas of your yard is important. If you have a big family, ensure you have soft areas for your children to play. Grass, artificial grass, soft bark chips and foam flooring make excellent coverings for kid-safe areas. Dispersible floor coverings like bark and soil can be bordered off with large stones or short fencing to keep them in their place. For seating and eating areas, opt for paving and wooden decking. 

Screening

If you want to designate a specific relaxation area in your garden, you can easily create privacy by screening it. Using outdoor blinds, you can turn pergolas and verandas into "rooms" when you can sit and enjoy your time peacefully. Outdoor blinds come in a variety of materials and colours with varying levels of transparency, ready to match any garden. These blinds also protect you from any adverse weather that could ruin your "me time". The best part is, you can roll the blinds up when you want to be open to the elements.

Fencing

If you don't have an area suitable for outdoor blinds, you can achieve similar privacy by fencing off rooms. The taller and sturdier the fencing, the better your protection from weather and prying eyes. Fences are also a great solution for those who want to keep pets or young children away from delicate plants or dangerous water features.