Reasons to build a balcony

When you’re renovating your home, you may consider how the exterior of your house looks at the present time compared to what it would look like with a balcony. A balcony is a useful additional space in the home and allows you to actually extend the floorspace of an upper floor of your home. You often see balconies on the exterior of apartment buildings, but did you know that you can also have a balcony added to your home, even if it’s just a two storey house?

When you add a balcony, you also have the opportunity to add huge French doors with wooden shutters that are adjustable to add to the balcony. If your house has already been fitted with one at some point in the past, it may be necessary to get help with leaking balcony repairs or anything that may be crumbling, but the company that was used to install the balcony should be there to help you. Below, we’ve listed all the reasons you could want to decide whether or not to install a balcony in your home.

You get to have a garden even when you don’t have the ground space for a garden. Balconies can be used as a home for plants, and it also means you can grow herbs in pots along the railing in the open air and sunshine. Your balcony will be a part of your house so, even if you have a garden outside of your two storey home, you’ll be able to use your balcony additionally for even more plants. It will improve the aesthetic of your exterior; adding colourful and scented flowers such as sunflowers or geraniums and trailing plants like ivy and nasturtiums are also going to make your balcony look great and make your outside space look and smell wonderful.
You have a space from which to enjoy the view. You can add a chair or two and a small table – large enough for a couple of drinking glasses and snack bowls – and be able to sit outside on a warm summer evening and take in the views. A home surrounded by green space is great for your health, and balconies can provide extra comfort and space to relax and enjoy some great wrap-around views.
For storage. Not all balconies are open air – some of them are covered. These balconies are perfect for storage because they’re sheltered from the weather and you won’t have everything ruined by the elements. You can solve many problems about needing extra storage for items by using the space as a storage room and your extra stuff to end up in built-in shelves storage drawers or units outside specifically for storage reasons.
Somewhere to relax. A balcony is a wonderful place in which to relax, unwind and simply enjoy the fresh air after a long, stressful day at work. Sitting outside on a balcony can help you to relieve your anxiety and prepare for a good night’s sleep. You need the perfect space for reading or just having a comfortable outdoor nap where you know you’re not going to be disturbed and the balcony is it!

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3 stress-free ways to update your patio

Home renovations can often be a stressful experience, especially when you’re updating a large area. Your patio is one of the more notable parts of this, simply because there’s quite a lot to look after. You’ll not only worry about how it looks and what you furnish it with, but how it’ll hold up to the weather.

Once you know how to update your patio without the stress, things become much easier. When you’re doing so, it’s worth focusing on a few particular areas to make things as comfortable and visually appealing as possible.

How to update your patio without the stress: 3 top options

1. Use textiles

Most patios are typically made out of wood, stone or concrete. While these can be visually appealing, you’ll want to add some softness and texture to the patio to counter the hard edges and make it more comfortable. Your seating area is the most notable way of doing so, although it’s far from the only one.

By using textiles, you can create an inviting and appealing colour palette that helps you relax and complements your garden plants and flowers. Even your patio door blinds can be worked into this. Having a specific palette in mind when you’re doing so is vital, as it’ll ensure everything comes together well.

It’ll update your patio’s appearance while giving you comfortable cushions, throws and similar on which to recline.

2. Consider a fire pit

Fire pits are becoming increasingly popular as home-owners come to realise how safe they are – alongside how appealing they can be on a patio. While you’ll probably need to have these professionally installed, they can be more than worth the cost.

Arranging your seating area around this is recommended, as it’s most practical and you’ll get the largest return on investment from it. Not only will it look great on your patio and keep you warm on chilly evenings, you can also cook on the fire. There’s no reason not to consider installing a fire pit, especially given the numerous styles in which they’re available.

3. Think about rope lighting

Everyone’s heard about how they should use string lights in their patio, but these are far from your only option. Rope lights can also be recommended; they’re similar to string lights, but are encased in a clear, flexible tube. You can hang these almost anywhere on your property to make it look more attractive.

The plastic casing means you shouldn’t need to worry about wet weather once they’re up. Some of the more usual places to put rope lighting are under the steps leading up to your patio, along the balcony and on the edge of the ceiling.

They can illuminate your patio and make it look moreinviting without you needing to put much effort into it.

How to update your patio without the stress: wrapping up

Once you know how to update your patio without the stress, the process will be much more straightforward. There’s a decent chance that you’re making it out to be more stressful than it actually is. While you’ll still need to put the effort into getting everything done, you shouldn’t have anything to worry about.

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Price Points: Outdoor pizza ovens

Move over barbecues, you’re now passé – outdoor pizza ovens are the al fresco cooking gadgets to own these days!

The most basic pizza oven comes in at just over 150 quid – but for one that has all the bells & whistles and looks like a supermodel, prepare to pay up to five grand! I think I’d invest in the budget example in the first instance – see how often it gets a workout. If enthusiasm doesn’t wane and the British weather allows for regular use, I’d think about upgrading to the mid-range Ooni. Much as the canary yellow Charlie catches my eye (it’s also available in 7 other beautiful colours), I can’t imagine spending that amount of money on an oven – unless it’s an Esse range that’s indoors, sees everyday use and helps to heat the house!

Outdoor tabletop pizza oven: £159.99, Vonhaus
Fuelled by pellets and including a pizza stone to give you that authentic stone-baked flavour, you can also use this oven for smoking fish, meat or vegetables.
The double layer design allows for a hotter inner temperature to have your pizza ready in no time, and the speedy heat up means it will be ready for cooking in only 15 minutes reaching temperatures of up to 350°C. Finished off with an ash collector, tidying up is even quicker.
With a max pizza size of 13 inches, this is a perfect pizza oven for a pizza making night with the family.
When all the slices are gone, the removable chimney and foldable legs allows for easy storage until next time.
Ooni Karu 16 multi-fuel pizza oven: £699.00, Ooni
Multiple fuel options for maximum cooking versatility
Cook with wood or charcoal out of the box, or use gas with the Ooni Karu 16 Gas Burner (sold separately)
Reaches 500°C (950°F) in just 15 minutes
New hinged oven door design with ViewFlame™ technology to boost visibility
Mounted digital thermometer displays internal ambient oven temperature (batteries included)
Large cooking area fits up to 16-inch pizzas and other substantial cooks
Charlie outdoor charcoal oven: £4,950.00, Charlie
Charcoal BBQ, pizza oven, smoker, charcoal grill
Crafted from the finest quality stainless steel, and comes with a powder-coated finish in a choice of 8 vibrant colours.
Charlie is weatherproof and designed to work whatever the weather! Unlike top-opening barbecues or ovens, our front-opening design minimises heat loss and the impact of the weather conditions.
Charlie’s sealed design and superior thermal insulation mean it uses 45% less charcoal than an open grill. As a result, one modest load of charcoal will last for around six hours.
Charlie has 2.5 times the capacity of a domestic oven! It has nine cooking rack positions to allow many different cooking options. Cook indirectly (away from the fire) or directly (close to the fire). The cooking racks are professional-grade, and each oven comes with two racks as standard.

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Charlie outdoor charcoal oven
£4,950.00