Tag: Inspiration

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Added Life, Added Value

Glass Verandas add living space to your home and al-fresco luxury to your lifestyle, research shows 37% of British people spend more time in the garden than 5 years ago.

We can all benefit from improving our home environment and the garden is no exception. Any garden can either be a sanctuary for outdoor living, or can look an afterthought, but what many don’t realise is that a well developed plot can add anywhere between 5-20% to the value of a property. Over the years, property seekers appetites for improved garden environments have surged with people now wanting an attractive outdoor space in which to relax and enjoy. Adding a simple decking area where people can eat al-fresco can add value, or more so, adding quality outdoor living structures such as our glass verandas or contemporary glass rooms.

The great British summer of barbecues and gatherings will soon come around again, but is your garden up to the challenge? Traditionally, homeowners have tended to neglect gardens, focusing their time and energy on the interior first, but these days people are applying the same emphasis on outdoor living as they might their indoor space. A glass veranda or glass room can give your home a real edge, an added dimension that screams relaxation – modern outdoor living breathing new life into your home. Add space and value without breaking the bank, and make the most of your outdoors, maximising your property.

Your house is doubtless your largest and most valuable asset so it pays to look after its position in the market. Adding an Elegant veranda, or Elegant glass room, as well as making your home more attractive and enjoyable during your stay, it is well established that any additional living space can help increase a properties value – should you ever come to sell.

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Outdoor Living Fireplace

Fire pits may be all the fashion right now but let’s not forget about chimeneas – the original patio fireplace. Outdoor heating that’s a fun veranda accessory as autumn approaches.

Our customer Mr Spedding, in Surrey, highly recommends his chimenea. He loves his new Elegant glass veranda, of course, and on being invited to visit him after installation we learned some useful advice about how he heats his terrace during frequent garden parties – outdoor entertaining his friends and neighbours late into the evenings. The glass veranda in point is featured in the photo above, a contemporary gunmetal gray replacing Mr Spedding’s previous wooden structure. The new veranda installation even includes a drinks fridge – plus his faithful chimenea sitting center stage.

Getting-Started Advice

Clay models have the best combustion and will burn fuel to a fine ash. Place outside of the glass veranda – you’ll feel the heat just fine, and be sure to pour a few inches of sand in the bottom of the chimenea before adding fuel. A sand bed protects the clay from cracking and should remain in place.

Mr Spedding, Derek, recommended Heat Logs for fuel – widely available including online order from Amazon or in DIY stores. Environmentally friendly heat logs are made up of wood from managed forests and recycled timber, cleverly compressed into handy logs. They are easy to light, they burn hot, are clean to handle and burn clean and smokeless – meaning guests won’t smell like a bonfire!

Use only dry wood or heat logs, not coal or charcoal which burn too hot damaging the chimenea. When not in use apply the chimney lid, keeping rain out, and use a protective cover over winter. Avoid water logging the clay and don’t light your chiminea if noticeably water logged, allow it to dry out naturally under the veranda. Always note manufacturer advice and use common sense with children.

Derek says that just two or three heat logs are enough to warm your glass veranda and adjacent patio during an Alfresco drink or short barbecue, this costing just a couple of pounds. A very long evening might use ten or twelve logs, maybe £7 or £8, but it’s all good fun and your veranda party guests will love it.

History

Historically made from fired clay the traditional Mexican chimenea dates back 400 years keeping families warm for hours burning only a few sticks. Originally used for both heating and cooking, outside and inside, they provided evening warmth and in the morning could be used for baking bread. Today they are purely terrace heaters and a quality model can last many years.

Thanks Derek, we love outdoor living too!

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CAD Veranda Visualisations

CAD visuals can be a great design aid – impressive photo realistic images allowing you to see your planned glass veranda installation getting the details right before manufacture and installation.

Design software for visualisation is still relatively new and can create exciting outputs of veranda projects for our customers. This capability provides static renderings able to communicate a glass veranda design, scaled to the building, simulating a finished look and feel showing the expected visual impact and enhancement to the home. These immersive artworks can prove affirming and reassuring validating the exact veranda size or chosen colour.

Helpful and informative, our veranda visualisations can prove especially valuable for customers less able to visualise in the mind’s eye, and are a perfect fit for group decisions. Very useful for design, effectively testing and giving an element of ‘try before you buy’ – seeing your glass veranda before it gets installed can confirm your decisions and get the whole household involved.

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Glass Veranda Sun Blind

With summer in swing the demand is hotting up for our veranda sun blinds; patio roofs with a built-in sun awning and even vertical sun screens putting you in control.

An integrated sun blind provides welcome shade below your glass veranda, invaluable during heat wave periods and comfortably controlling glare on sunny days. Virtually a complete patio awning, our built-in sun blind installs below your glass roof keeping it out of the weather and clean from debris or bird droppings. Operated by remote control, at the touch of a button the sun blind glides quietly and effortlessly and can be stopped part-way for partial shade.

Options are plentiful to suit all tastes choosing from over 150 plain or patterned fabrics in a wide range of subtle or vibrant colours, including our Veil-Tex range allowing a veiled view through the blind. Choose between handset operation, wall switch, or fully automated action using a sun sensor! Advanced fabric technology ensures lasting good looks and the blind casing and hardware is beautifully made to blend with your glass veranda structure.

With our modular concept, retro fitting is available so existing glass verandas can have this sun blind added subsequently. Contact Elegant to view the fabrics and receive a tailored quote.

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Summer With A Patio Roof

Glass patio roof canopies keep your patio dry from rain, but the benefits don’t stop there. Don’t under estimate the brilliant fair weather benefits of this addition to your home.

Luxury when the sun shines, we cannot overstate the joy of warmer sun through the glass; making the milder UK climate feel like your holidays. As sunlight passes through the glass canopy its warmth intensifies, lending a more Mediterranean climate to your patio, this benefit greatly increased adding fixed glass walls or frameless glass doors. Glass sides cut the breeze and contain the warmth, while our slide away glass doors put you in even more control developing your patio roof into a complete sun room.

Stepping out to your patio you can really feel the difference, an Alicante terrace you can holiday at home. On overcast days the warming continues, inviting you out when otherwise you’d feel housebound. Again, sides help this, containing a microclimate.

UVB is dramatically filtered, you don’t burn through glass like you would on the open patio, while laminated glass significantly filters UVA too. Adding our built-in sun awning (housed below your patio roof glass) puts you in even more control; adjusting light levels and shade on sunnier days, and forming an insulative barrier for microclimate during evenings. The more you add to your patio roof the better it gets, although our modular design allows you to install the roof alone then add as little or as much as you desire over time.

A super place to sit, enjoying a better, longer summer, protected from the elements with a clear open view of your garden. A glass patio roof offers a unique added option for enjoying your time at home… and we haven’t yet touched on the wet weather benefits!