We’ve all heard about the benefits of immersing ourselves in nature. And it’s hard to beat that feeling of opening the doors to the garden once the warmer weather arrives. But how do you go about blurring the lines between home and garden? And how can you ‘bring the outside in’ to your home, regardless of the weather? Here, we take a look at some of the ways in which you can connect the inside of your home with the outside.
The interiors trend for ‘bringing the outside in’, as its known, blurs the lines between house and garden, making the inside of your home reflect the natural world outside. This can be achieved by introducing natural materials into your home, or by designing an open-plan space flooded with natural light which connects directly with the outdoors. By selecting oversized glazed doors and a flush threshold – which means there’s no step or change of levels between inside and outside – you can create a seamless transition from home to garden.
A big part of the trend for ‘Bringing the outside in’ is inspired by the principles of Biophilic Design, the practice of bringing the natural world to bear on design decisions. Spending time outside in the fresh air has been shown to have a positive affect on our health and wellbeing, reducing blood pressure and even lowering levels of the stress hormone cortisol. So it makes sense to maximise our connection with the nature wherever possible.
But Biophilic Design represents more than simply bringing the outside in, according to interior designer and sustainability expert Oliver Heath. “Biophilic Design is about making and strengthening a connection with many aspects of nature,” says Oliver. “It’s about reconnecting to nature and the outside world. You know you feel calmer if you are in a forest and you can see plants and feel the breeze and even have your toes in water. It’s about finding a way to bring those sensory elements into your home.”
A ‘living wall’ made up of real or faux greenery is a great way to do this, and we’re also seeing a rise in the popularity of internal walls clad in natural materials such as bamboo or slatted oak. Not only does this bring nature into your home, it also creates a sense of the room extending beyond its own boundaries. This effect can be further maximised by fitting a large glass pocket door next to your ‘living wall’ which can then seem to ‘disappear’ when it is slid back to open up the room to the garden.
What better way to bring nature into your home than by creating a seamless divide between home and garden with the help of slimline sliding doors? At Ultraline, our slimline frames with their 20mm sightline maximise your view of the garden whatever the weather. And when summer comes, our doors easily slide back to open up the house to the great outdoors.
In addition, all our sliding door systems can be fitted with a flush threshold which means that you can move effortlessly from house to garden. Not only does this give you the ultimate ‘outside in’ feeling, but it also ensures there’s nothing to trip over when you’re carrying drinks and snacks out onto the terrace.
Looking for more ways to bring the outside in? Take a look at our stunning Chestnut Road project, in which the client chose both a floating corner and a pocket door to open up their kitchen to the garden.