Help with design of tiny garden!!
Hi All,
Okay. I have a tiny back garden which overlooks the thames / thames pathway (i.e. people walk by the bottom of the garden - which I am fine with). I have inserted some photos here of how it currently is:
The photos are taken from the house, where we are installing bifold doors. Here is my plan of the garden, with measurements:
So, the wall to the left, I have just measured to the step (410cm). The wall of the kitchen with the bifolds, at the bottom of the page, is 390cm total - the bifolds don't take up the whole wall (63cm of wall left on the left, 48cm left on the right). There is a balcony over these bifolds, stretching out about 1.2m. I intend to put a couple of hooks in the underside for hammock seats. The wall on the left of the picture, I am planning to put in this IKEA set (though comments welcome! Ideally I would do built in, but budgetary constraints...), with lights above, possibly shelving and planting...
Then the idea is to have built in L shaped benches, from the wall overlooking the river (against the current wall) and then on the right hand side of the picture, with the bamboos you see planted behind the built in benches. I am really struggling with what these benches will be like? I would ideally like rendered and painted white, to be honest, or pale grey, and for them to have built in storage, but what about the wall against the river, which is brick?? Anyway, here is an inspiration photo:
And another, with patterned tiles, which we are struggling to find:
Anyway, any thoughts on the design I have mocked up, tiling, materials for the built in benches, plants for the wall overlooking the thames (the garden is north facing - I was thinking of herbs mostly, just because I use them a lot in my cooking), and any other points you think I should take into consideration.
Thank you thank you in advance!
Comments (11)
twamleyk
13 days agoThanks Keiblem!
I like patterned tiles outdoor - though basically just black and white, so I would change regardless of how good they look cleaned up (but I don't think they would look very nice!).
In terms of the rendering, it seems unlikely I will find matching bricks - the house was built in the 80s, so they just wouldn't be the same colour? But yes, I agree it would be move cohesive, though quite dark (which it already is, facing north). Perhaps I could render that wall, at least on this side, or would that look ridiculous?!
As regards the hooks from the balcony - I am not sure. I asked a builder and he said he thought they would be strong enough. There are wooden struts holding up the balcony which go into the house. The balcony itself feels very sturdy and of course takes our weight on top of it. How might I check this?! Here is a photo of the balcony (you can see the plans for the bifolds on the ground floor and sliding doors on the first floor drawn over the photo!):
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13 days ago
Sonia
13 days agoI like your plan. Lots of tile companies sell patterned tiles, including Topps Tiles. Only thing to check is the R rating which is the non slip factor. The higher the number (R11 or 13) the less slippery they are. Herbs are a great idea but they do need sunshine to grow well. This is one of my favourite tiled patios on Pinterest. The tiles are from Tile Mountain.
twamleyk thanked Soniatwamleyk
12 days agominnie101
12 days agoI remember seeing your downsizing post, now I know why, what a view!
the wall overlooking the river doesn’t seem terribly high so I’d be a bit concerned about blocking the view particularly as you’re adding planting behind? I will carry on looking but have come across these tiles which you may like
https://www.tiles-direct.com/floor-tiles-c27/antique-patchwork-c1782/realonda-m47
twamleyk
12 days agokeiblem
12 days agominnie101
12 days agoGlad it helped.
sorry I’m having a moment, do you mean you’re building a wall where the fence currently is with your neighbour?
in terms of seating material as the garden isn’t wide I don’t know if I’d go for a dark’ish colour to make it feel bigger. I know this one doesn’t have storage but I like the combo with wood to add texture. If you did mean building a wall then I like the fence in the 2nd pic as an alternative.
Final question, are the bamboos going into built in beds within the seating? If so, you may want to think about space available. I don’t know if they need less space than other plants but the “bed” along with the seat, table and kitchen may overwhelm the garden. It may be worth masking it out.
This first pic has also reminded me of lighting!
twamleyk thanked minnie101twamleyk
12 days ago
Sarah L