Tag: Outdoor Living

News Blog

Autumnal Veranda

The Autumn weather is well and truly upon us, with our Indian summer heatwave gone, leaving us retreating indoors starting to think about switching on the heating !

However, for many of our customers with a glass veranda, outdoor living can continue throughout the seasons. It’s now widely known that our well-being can be hugely influenced and enhanced by natural sunlight and being outdoors. So, what better way to give yourself a shot of mood boosting energy, than to spend more time outside in your garden well into the Autumn months.

This year we’ve been thrilled to have customers come back to us, looking to enhance their existing verandas, and enjoy more outdoor living, with the additions of fixed glass sides, sliding doors, lights, under-glass awnings etc Although each of our verandas are built to a bespoke design, the modular product allows us to make these additions at any point in the future, helping people to have a variety of uses for their glass veranda.

So, why wait for the Spring, when it’s possible to love the outdoors no matter what the weather with one of our beautiful Glass Verandas ?

News Blog

Heading Toward The Holidays

2021 is almost through. The glass veranda market boomed once again this year, the result of continued travel restrictions with Brits making the best of their terrace at home.

This year has seen other effects of Covid too, including supply issues and rising material costs. Delivery schedules have been affected and manufacturer staffing has continued to suffer interruptions. That said, the continued growth in demand for outdoor living products has been good news for our industry – in what has seemed dark days, we’ve seen an increase in glass room sales (even higher than verandas) and optimism for 2022 is high across the sector.

2022 is forecast to bring multiple material price increases, including glass and aluminium, and so the advice right now is to jump in before summer 2022 when retail prices are expected to rise. This will push up demand in the earlier part of next year for which we have planned ahead ordering additional stock and planning for overtime hours throughout the spring. Covid is still around but 2022 is looking positive for us all. At Elegant we have risen to the challenge, the outdoor living market continues to grow, we have done everything we can to meet demand, maximise supply, maintain quality and to bring good service.

May we thank our suppliers and customers for their support and wish you all a Merry Christmas and a Covid Free New Year.

News Blog

Indoor Hot Tub Glass Room

With Autumn fast approaching, let’s look at some of the lifestyle ideas of how an Elegant Glass Room can help make continued enjoyment of your outdoor space throughout winter.

At Elegant we’ve noticed more and more customers looking to use their covered space in creative and practical ways, including a growing demand for incorporating hot tubs, fitness equipment, telescopes and even pizza ovens. Especially during lock-down, many customers have looked beyond the obvious Alfresco dining possibilities of Verandas and Glass Rooms, to create a multi-use home environment – one which satisfies many purposes improving leisure time at home.

While a rigid ‘Jacuzzi’ style hot tub requires substantial installation, inflatable mini-spa’s can provide the same temperatures of water and are easier to incorporate into existing Glass Rooms. The model shown in our photo is a Lay-Z-Spa Helsinki, which has a unique thin-wall design, large 1120L capacity, 180 bubble jets and Freeze Shield™ technology for use all year. At around £600 – £700 Helsinki is among the higher costing options, but various home stores can be found selling other inflatable models at almost half that price.

Our example shown above sits on a composite decking floor, which has been suitably reinforced for the weight of water. Turning this stunning glass room into a wintergarden spa gives more options for how the terrace can be enjoyed out of summer, relaxing in hot spring luxury, comfortably protected from wind and rain behind glass. Inflatable spa’s can easily be relocated, or even packed away for periods, allowing your outdoor space to stay flexible – ‘ringing the changes’ to keep life at home interesting.

Contact us to find out more about achieving this for your home, at Elegant we have a wealth of experience and advice we can offer building this option into your glass room lifestyle.

News Blog

Time To Get Back On Typing!

Covid lockdown had our blog writing as ‘non-essential’, from April 2020 the Glass Veranda market fell initially quiet followed by a surprising increase in interest and business!

Yes, Covid caused a gap in our news publishing but that doesn’t mean that we weren’t keeping busy. Spring 2020 gave some apprehension, it had us initially concerned for business, but then came the phone calls. We all know how Glass Veranda or Glass Garden Room makes a great outdoor improvement, it adds new options for how you can enjoy your time at home, and with householders working more from home it seems there has never been a better time to buy.

At Elegant we too practised working from home in lock down. In the early days we learnt much about Zoom, and using WhatsApp social media – helping customers with information without always having to visit. During social distancing, at a time of masks, sanitiser and gloves, lockdown taught our industry new working practises – it altered the structure of how businesses operated, introduced new ways in some departments and temporarily put other aspects aside. Our news blog fell into the non-essential category… but we are delighted to say it is back!

With some exciting new products we look forward to once again keeping you informed, publishing all that’s new in our Glass Veranda world and sharing what we’ve been doing.

News Blog

Not Just For Summer

The glorious weather we experienced in the UK early this year took us all a little by surprise, the “summer months” of July and August can become less relevant once February hits 70°!

Lets face it, consistent and good weather cannot be relied upon in this country. I suspect that when the sun shone in winter early this year people were not “garden ready” with lawns needing mowing and patio furniture packed away in the shed. The outdoor leisure, enjoyment and entertaining that could have taken place perhaps didn’t and with this in mind it poses the question – can you have an “always ready” garden area?

An always ready garden may be a little unrealistic as grass will need cutting and plants will need tending and are seasonal. However, it is both advantageous and entirely possible to have an outdoor space that is not just for summer, an area of the garden that is protected and always ready. With a glass veranda from Elegant you can enjoy your patio all year round, and when that Indian summer or January heatwave visits you can be ready for entertaining Al-fresco at a moments notice.

We all know that fresh air is good for you and good for your state of mind, so why restrict yourself to only enjoying it in summer?

News Blog

A Picture Perfect Veranda

Over the past 17 years at Elegant we’ve had many lovely and talented customers, although not many have surprised us with a painting illustrating them enjoying their new glass veranda.

Heather and Tony Wass in Cambridgeshire were so pleased with their Elegant glass veranda that it inspired Tony to paint a personal thank you card. Tony has always enjoyed art and painting, and having his new veranda he can now get outside more often enjoying the natural light when creating his masterpieces. It also means that whatever the weather they can enjoy another pastime – having a nice glass of wine together on the terrace! A lot of our customers share enjoyment of that hobby and we often receive photographs of such.

But Tony went further getting his easel and colours out. Tony’s delightful artwork illustrates how the new glass veranda has transformed their patio and home life. Tony sent us an A4 folded card featuring one painting of him struggling onto an empty wet patio, with an umbrella, then inside the card was a second painting of himself and Heather seated below glass – and raising a glass. A large caption reads, “WHOOPEE ! And Thanks, the Wasses”.

Our thanks to you Tony we’ll be getting that one framed!

News Blog

Outdoor Home Bar

When laying out your veranda or glass room area there’ll doubtless be a little corner somewhere for an outdoor bar, and it needn’t be extravagant to make an enjoyable home addition.

A night out on the town can be fun, for sure, but there’s room too for a touch of bar hopping at your own “inside outside club” at home, and what could be more relaxing or better for entertaining. Allocating a small space of your big outdoors for a modest bar top needn’t cost the earth either, with simple options widely available from the likes of Amazon and other online providers. Indeed the basic bar top in our photo above was just £59 delivered.

A counter top at bar level (typically 1m high) makes a gathering point at parties and an ideal sipping station during quiet evenings in. Accessorize with bar towels, a tray, even your own sign, and if you don’t like it “standing room only” then add a couple of bar stools! With your well stocked cabinet just a step away indoors you could have something to rival the local or make a starting point before heading out – turning your outdoor space to further enjoyable advantage.

News Blog

Outdoor Interior Design

“An Englishman’s home is his castle”. Albeit a slight move away from it’s original meaning this phrase is so true in so many ways. An Englishman’s home is indeed his castle. Or hers.

It is a very British desire within the home to constantly improve, even strive for perfection. With well being and mindfulness being such a huge part of today’s society, the impact that this has on homeowners is to strive for stylish, clean and elegant living spaces, environments which encourage relaxation and family togetherness. The same is true of the outdoor space for a home, with outdoor living growing rapidly in popularity playing an increasingly key role.

Whilst the English weather can put pay to enjoying the garden there are now numerous ways to incorporate the outdoors, indoors. With a Glass Veranda from Elegant this vision becomes a reality – from a simple roof structure to a fully enclosed glass room, Elegant can provide the perfect area with a touch of escapism.

Designed and built to your own specific requirements and specification, our verandas can provide the perfect addition to your property and lifestyle!

News Blog

Side Screen Added Protection

It’s the new accessory product which has been around for years! Pull out side screens, traditionally used with patio awnings, are proving popular accessories for glass verandas too.

These side awnings for terraces protect you from sun, the breeze and views of your neighbours; so you can enjoy breakfast on your patio better enclosed and undisturbed. Elegant glass rooms can be fitted with powered vertical screens, meaning that these simpler devices would not be applicable, but for veranda roofs (structures without glass sides) a pull-out side screen can further develop your outdoor space creating more of an outdoor room. That feeling of bringing indoors outdoors!

Waterproof and tear resistant, the hard wearing high density fabric resists sun fading, mould and mildew. It is pulled out manually by hand, with sizes up to 3.5 meters, latching onto its own ground post or the veranda leg post. Both types of mounting are highly stable. A spring loaded auto-winding mechanism makes it easy to retract away when not in use, rolling into a wall mounted weatherproof cassette. Please do ask about sizes and fabric options.

We have these in stock now ready for fitting.

News Blog

Interior Meets Exterior

With the British weather being as unpredictable as always, outdoor living spaces are becoming increasingly popular in the UK. Protection with style and real creature comfort.

Creating a dedicated area with comfy furniture, colourful cushions and outdoor dining facility is all part of making such a space an extension of indoors, styling it with personal flair letting your imagination run riot. Why not think about adding lighting, heating or sun blinds to accessorise the room and further protect from the elements – be it sunshine or rain!

Alfresco drinking, dining and entertaining continues being a rising fashion in 2019 – you may have noticed many restaurants and drinking establishments are also following this trend. With a glass veranda from Elegant you can create your own perfect space,  for entertaining or relaxing, enjoying a stylish, low maintenance and stress free environment that can be used all year round and is bound to impress your guests.

Contact Elegant today!