Let the light shine in

If you were designing your dream house from scratch, I’d put money on your ‘must haves’ including lots of glass at the back.

It’s hard to find an episode of Grand Designs that doesn’t have floor to ceiling windows or doors that open wide onto the decking or patio.

It’s not hard to see why, especially at this time of year when you’re thinking about throwing open your curtains and letting the light of the longed-for sun pour in.

That dream house would no doubt have an open plan kitchen/dining/living area with the wall of glass helping the inside merge with the outside.

In Britain, we may not have too many days when these big doors could be pulled and left wide open but when the temperature does rise, you sure want your house to be ready to make the most of it.

As I said in my post about spring, this is the year we demolish the downstairs: replace the brown, 1970s kitchen and change the outdated layout, from a through lounge diner and separate kitchen to a separate lounge and kitchen diner that stretches across the back of the house. We’ll also be replacing the dining area window with doors leading out into the garden. We’ll be pushed for wall and cabinet space in the kitchen so doors going all across the back are out, but we’ll definitely be making the opening as wide as possible.

(sources 1 / 2 and 3 / 4 / 5 / 6 )

I’d love to go for sliding or bi-folding doors like those made by Express Bi-folding Doors but our budget may dictate we have to go with something more traditional. In the last house we did up we put in French doors with windows either side, similar to the last image, which looked pretty good.

Which is your favourite style? Do you have doors like this in the back of your house? Or do you wish you did?

* this post has been written in collaboration with Express Bi-folding Doors but content and opinions are my own and always honest