We build many roof terraces and dress London balconies for our clients. Depending on the size, we have had tiny spaces which are used for a cosy realaxing area to large spaces which can fit in outdoor dining areas with pergolas, waterfeatures and even Spa Jacuzzis. What ever the space you will extend the feeling of your indoors with clever lighting that you can enjoy year out during the cold winter month as a stunning back drop view.

i think the most important thing is to work out first of all how you would like to use the garden space, whether its to relax in, socialize in, kids/grandkids to play in, to enjoy from the house and or different focal points within the garden, is there an area that gets say evening sun and that's the time you both get home and want to enjoy a meal/drink in the evening sun? do you need storage areas? outside cooking area? how much time do you have to spend upkeeping it? (and be honest! too many people aren't believe me lol), how much money you have to spend, both on landscaping and maintenance, once you really know what you want from it, have a search though houzz at the different styles of gardens and start getting an idea of what you like and come up with a board with clippets of different styles, doesn't matter if it takes time, best to get the basic's right before spending any money before planting, its worth getting the soil tested for its type, ph and nutrient level, this will also help work out what plants you will be able to grow sorry I haven't helped with styles or direct ideas, I feel its your own space and to get the best from it you need to understand more what you require from it and what you can give to get out of it most of all good luck and enjoy turning the lovely space into a garden that you can enjoy

That is a really good point. I had considered wooden planters either the side of steps at the bottom but your idea is brilliant. You are right the steps are different heights and quite dangerous. Many thanks. I think I need to spend tomorrow pulling out weeds and having a good think.

We built an extension on our last house (3 storey 1850's victorian town house). Most of the new back wall was a bifolding sliding oak door. We were happy with them and they looked good but we rarely had them open all the way. For this reason we have decided not to have them again in our new house. This time we are opting for 3 sets of french doors similar to the house in the picture above. There are some advantages over the folding sliding doors. It allows the wall space to be used in between each set of doors. It looks nicer in my opinion and you could curtain the 3 sets of doors if you wish. There was no point putting curtains on a folding sliding door because you would end up with a whole wall of fabric which wouldn't look great so we lost our privacy. By the way our new house is a ugly 1955 build. We are trying to make it look traditional with an exterior makeover.