I want to try and get a bit of a "Mediterranean terrace" look for my patio, and wondered if I could get some suggestions.
The patio area is almost a courtyard:
The orange area is the patio.
Bottom is the house.
Right side is a door to a small shed, plus a door from the passageway between houses, the black block at the top right is another shed. (The blue lines show the doors). These walls are about 2.25m high.
On the left there's a low wall (about 1.75m) for about half the length of the patio, and then a lower fence (about 1m) for the rest of the length of the garden.
The 2 brown blocks are flower beds - currently at ground level, and the green is the lawn.
So, my ideas are as follows:
Pergola over the square area between the back door of the house, the door from the passageway and the shed, with vines.
Replace the current block paving with some nice terracotta coloured tiles (with contrasting white grout - http://www.pavingsuperstore.co.uk/b...ta-square-tile-single-size-options-2938-p.asp)
Raise the flower beds, and plant with mediterranean herbs, e.g. sage, rosemary, basil, oregano, etc. A few big plant pots along the edge of this too.
The doors to the sheds and passageway would be painted a nice strong blue.
Now, the bit I'm stuck with:
All of the walls are currently bare brick, which doesn't really fit - ideally I'd like to have these smooth rendered/stuccoed and painted white - I'd also like the raised beds to be matched in this smooth white finish, and potentially extend the existing wall on the left to the end of the patio, and top with terracotta tiles.
I'm not sure if it would make more sense to have the whole rear of the house (or in fact the whole thing) rendered, or just up to the same height as the other walls and leave the top section brick?
Also, from the bit of research i've done, it appears to be fletton brick, which has some issues with painting?
If painting rendering the brickwork isn't an option, what alternatives do I have? Cover the whole wall with trellis and try to get some vines or so growing up it?
The patio area is almost a courtyard:
The orange area is the patio.
Bottom is the house.
Right side is a door to a small shed, plus a door from the passageway between houses, the black block at the top right is another shed. (The blue lines show the doors). These walls are about 2.25m high.
On the left there's a low wall (about 1.75m) for about half the length of the patio, and then a lower fence (about 1m) for the rest of the length of the garden.
The 2 brown blocks are flower beds - currently at ground level, and the green is the lawn.
So, my ideas are as follows:
Pergola over the square area between the back door of the house, the door from the passageway and the shed, with vines.
Replace the current block paving with some nice terracotta coloured tiles (with contrasting white grout - http://www.pavingsuperstore.co.uk/b...ta-square-tile-single-size-options-2938-p.asp)
Raise the flower beds, and plant with mediterranean herbs, e.g. sage, rosemary, basil, oregano, etc. A few big plant pots along the edge of this too.
The doors to the sheds and passageway would be painted a nice strong blue.
Now, the bit I'm stuck with:
All of the walls are currently bare brick, which doesn't really fit - ideally I'd like to have these smooth rendered/stuccoed and painted white - I'd also like the raised beds to be matched in this smooth white finish, and potentially extend the existing wall on the left to the end of the patio, and top with terracotta tiles.
I'm not sure if it would make more sense to have the whole rear of the house (or in fact the whole thing) rendered, or just up to the same height as the other walls and leave the top section brick?
Also, from the bit of research i've done, it appears to be fletton brick, which has some issues with painting?
If painting rendering the brickwork isn't an option, what alternatives do I have? Cover the whole wall with trellis and try to get some vines or so growing up it?
will soon become gruby.
