– what does your garden look like from inside the house?

Do You Have A Room with a View?

True to form, the weather this bank holiday Easter weekend is forecast to be variable. So it is unlikely you will be sitting out in the garden with E M Forster’s classic book or any other reading matter, unless you’re a very hardy type. This means you will probably be spending a little more time inside your house than you had hoped. Which brings me to the point of today’s blog.

I recently visited some new clients and whilst I was at their house, it became apparent that there were no nice views out to the garden from any of the windows except one. Fortunately this one window was a large one and located in the room the clients sat in the most.   However, when I looked out, all I could see was the shed and a bit of lawn which definitely came under the heading of uninspiring and boring.

And what a wasted opportunity!

Some of us have the benefit of a lovely view outside the garden boundaries which we can ‘borrow’ for our benefit and if you do, I hope you are making the most of it.   Most of us, however, have to create our own things to look at within our gardens so if you’re going to go to the trouble of doing this, make sure your efforts are in the right place.

Be objective.

The first thing you need to consider is whether you actually like and find interesting what you see from your ‘best’ window.   My mother once said that given enough time, you can get used to anything so don’t fall into this particular trap of over familiarity. Try and be objective and, if possible, get someone else to give you their opinion as well, which is actually the easier option. What you are aiming to do at this point is to firstly make a decision about whether your present view is one you’d like to keep or if you’d like to have a change.

Focal point

From a design point of view, the thing that is often lacking is a focal point. This is an object of interest to draw your eye out of the house and into the garden, so the second decision you need to make is about the type of focal point that would be of interest to you. Commonly used features include art, sculpture, a nice bench or swing seat, a water feature, a container either with or without a specimen plant, a bed of eye catching planting or simply a beautiful tree or shrub. It can be as simple or intricate as you like which should also reflect the amount of maintenance time you have to give to ensure it remains looking in tip top condition. It is also a very smart move to light this particular focal point so that the interest factor can be extended into the winter months or after dusk.

Real armchair gardening.

So this weekend, if you are forced indoors, have a think about what you can see outside. Ignore the weather, if you can, and decide if your room has a view you are happy with or whether you could do with a change. My clients with the shed have decided to have a semi-raised rectangular water feature, with a small bubble fountain in it. This will be lit from underneath the water and will look stunning at night, regardless of the season.