Part of the appeal of choosing bi fold doors for your Cheshire home is that it will help you better appreciate your garden, whether winter or summer. Bi fold doors help to really blur the lines between your indoor and outdoor spaces, so that when summer does come around, you can open up your home and really treat your garden as an extra room, with your family spilling out to enjoy a little of life alfresco.
The trend for bi folds and other kinds of patio doors has changed the garden game, and garden furniture retailers are making hay while the sun shines. According to the Daily Express, outdoor furniture sales were the biggest sales success story for high street retailer John Lewis last year, while Wyevale Garden Centres say it’s the second most searched for term on their website.
However, this garden furniture isn’t your usual plastic dining table and stackable chairs – in fact, the old favourite of an outdoor dining set is starting to lose ground to low-slung sofas and statement chairs. The new breed of garden furniture is as stylish as it is durable, using new materials that have been specially designed to survive our unpredictable British weather.
This is furniture that not only looks good enough for those half-inside, half-outside spaces such as rangers and conservatories, but also for around your whole home. For those that simply don’t have enough room for storage in winter, but don’t want to leave their furniture out to the mercy of the rain and wind, you can move it into a different room of the house without anyone thinking anything of it.
Rattan is a big high street trend this year, lightweight enough to pick up and move and resistant enough to leave unattended outside without any real worries. Composite furniture pieces, using mixed materials including plastics, are also proving popular choices.
In creating an outdoor ‘room’ space, we’re also looking at using more textiles outside than ever before to ensure the space is comfy and cosy. While there’s an argument for just using the cushions off your sofa, sometimes this is not practical and more durable textiles are needed. Many high street retailers have produced splash proof cushions in their high summer ranges for this year that will survive and unexpected rain storm or even a water fight. But it doesn’t stop there. Water-proof, outdoor rugs are also adding an extra level of comfort and dressing for an outdoor space.
To truly create harmony and synergy between the two spaces on either side of your bi fold doors, consider how you frame this boundary. By choosing the same floor finishing for your indoor space and your patio, the transition will seem seamless in summer and give more of a sense of space. Likewise, if you are having an extension, you may choose to keep the brick wall exposed of your home, helping to give the space an outdoorsy feel. Lots of indoor greenery will also help to blur the boundaries between home and garden.