Make your indoor-outdoor living space feel cosy and inviting this winter
The never-ending weeks of winter make days enjoyed outside feel like a distant memory. Cooped up indoors, we get under one another’s feet, our senses grow jaded, ennui sets in.
Getting into nature is one of the best tonics for this wintery lull. But when the sky is grey, and the air is damp, even walking from house to car can feel best avoided.
A small project can lift the spirits. Investing a little time to transform your indoor-outdoor living space into a cosy retreat can pay dividends in more than one way. By making subtle decor changes to the oak framed pool house you designed for heady summer afternoons, or styling your normally sunny terrace, you can quickly elevate your outdoor living space into a winter-ready destination to uplift your sense of wellbeing during even the dreariest of February days.
Whether you need to hide away from the rest of the household for some precious me-time or plan to host a convivial gathering with much-loved friends and family, your garden living spaces can provide the perfect year-round setting.
Start by adding warmth to your indoor-outdoor living space
A heat source is non-negotiable for winter days and evenings. A glowing firepit attracts every member of your family – even reclusive teens – into your dining shelter. Who said toasting marshmallows over an open flame is a summer-only activity? For those with the space, an outdoor kitchen is an incredible addition. Imagine the oohs and ahhs you’ll get as you dish up steaming bowls of tagine or hearty home-made soup to grateful guests as they gather in your frost-kissed garden.
If you don’t already have heating in your garden room, electric heaters are an easy way to warm your space; plug-in oil-filled radiators discreetly remove the chill while the new breed of electric heaters disguised as traditional stoves are a more aesthetic solution.
Provide plenty of comfortable, cosy seating
Standing around in the cold is far from joyous, so provide plenty of comfortable seating and witness your family and friends relax as they enjoy each others’ company. Take inspiration from the chicest of rooftop bars and provide lashings of cushions and throws to stay toasty. As well as ensuring you avoid the dreaded numb bottom, they act as precious insulation. Retire your summery loungers in favour of chunky, outdoor beanbags; perfect for creating a cosy garden room retreat. Padded benches easily accommodate multiple guests in dining shelters or spacious porches.
Strike the balance with atmospheric lighting
Careful lighting adds much-needed cheer to days when the sun barely shows its face. Opt for soft mood lighting throughout your indoor-outdoor living space to cast a warm, flattering glow on you, your guests and the surroundings. Festoon lights look pretty when hung outside your oak-framed garden room or woven through the rafters of your dining shelter and complement the ambient lighting you may already have around the garden. And remember – every evening gathering is enhanced by candlelight. More enclosed indoor-outdoor living spaces allow you to play with scent as well as light, creating an even more inviting atmosphere. We’re particularly big fans of the beautiful candles from Monday’s Moon. Consider dialling up the intrigue and excitement by dotting chunky candles in hurricane vases or oil-filled garden torches along the path to your gathering.
Consider your accessories
Colour takes care of itself in the summer when flowers bloom, and we’re surrounded by greenery. But we’re rather less fortunate in winter. Accessorising your indoor-outdoor living space with warm-toned rugs, cushions and throws quickly creates a cosier aesthetic. Texture is as important as tone – strokable Nordic-inspired pelts (whether real or faux) signal warmth and luxury, while plaid heirloom blankets add snug domesticity. Don’t stop at soft furnishings; reflect your warm palette and rich textures with your serveware. This is the place for chunky mugs and sturdy wine glasses. For rugged wooden serving vessels juxtaposed with tactile beaten metal plates and cutlery. Practical? Yes. Inviting? Absolutely.
Integrate nature into your indoor-outdoor living space
Because of their place in the fresh air, indoor-outdoor living spaces always look better with plants. Yet winter can reduce our options. Embrace the flexibility of an oak framed porch or dining shelter by using it to nurture fragile specimens such as citrus trees during winter frosts. Adding pots of robust grasses can quickly make your area look more inviting, while collections of pinecones, acorns or lichen-encrusted sticks ground your space in its environment. Planting evergreen climbers such as clematis armandii outside your garden room or pool house results in a cover of glossy greenery ready to bless you with a flurry of almond-scented blooms in March. Enhance enclosed indoor-outdoor living spaces with branches of forsythia, dogwood or pussy willow in a pebble-weighted vase, or bowls of paperwhite narcissi, amaryllis and hyacinths, for an inviting and optimistic space.
Relax in your own oak-framed indoor-outdoor living space
If you don’t yet have a year-round indoor-outdoor living space, now’s the ideal time to start planning. The Eavoak design team are available to discuss your ideas and create a space that works for you and your family all year round. With a range of interior options to help you stay cosy on even the coldest evenings, you’ll wonder how you ever got through winter without your oak framed indoor-outdoor living spaces.
Ready for more inspiration? Explore our portfolio of oak framed indoor-outdoor living spaces.
Britain’s forests and trees are embedded in the national psyche. We raise our children on woodland tales in the same way that we, our parents, grandparents and generations before that were. Would the Gruffalo, Robin Hood, and Tatiana, Queen of the Faeries, exist without our forests? Sturdy oaks, brambled thickets and mossy logs conjure an indefinable sense of romance; perhaps you, too, recognise the delight of a woodland stroll, leaves and twigs cracking underfoot, the sun warming your face as it filters through branches above?
Yet, despite our affection for woodlands, we’ve failed to protect this precious environment.
If you’re wondering about the difference between green oak vs seasoned oak, you’re not alone. It’s something many of our clients ask us at some stage of the design process. The short answer is simple: green oak is oak that’s been recently cut and sawn, while seasoned oak is wood that’s been cut, sawn and then left to dry.
At Eavoak we are proud to offer our clients the option of a fully bespoke turnkey service, guiding you through the process of creating your custom oak framed building from start to finish.
