Transforming Your Carport Into a Perfect Lounge Space

Home & Garden Blog

For a good number of Australians, one of the main highlights of the summer is making the most of alfresco living. Thus, you may be considering ways to spruce up your yard to ensure that entertaining and lounging outside is much more comfortable. While building a verandah or a patio may seem like a viable way of boosting your comfort outdoors, these options can be quite expensive.  Moreover, they are not the only choices available to you. A more cost-efficient alternative will be purchasing a carport and converting it into an exterior living space. Check out these nifty ways of transforming your carport into a comfortable lounge area.

Install adequate lighting

When it comes to hosting friends during the summer, there is always the likelihood that the festivities will run well into the night. If your carport is not equipped with the proper lighting, you may find yourself having to resort to makeshift lighting in the form of torches and portable lamps. Rather than ruin the ambience with improper lighting, the first tip to transforming the carport is to install sufficient lighting. In addition to having an overhead light, you should have a few wall mounts and possibly some fairy lights too.

Balance the shade with some natural light

Although the primary aim of utilising a carport for alfresco living is to ensure you have adequate shade to protect you from the harsh Australian sun, it is not advisable to have the area fully enclosed. Since part of alfresco living is to enjoy the sun, you should seek to balance this out through your carport design. A simple, yet excellent, way of doing this is by installing skylights on the roof of the carport, which will allow natural sunlight to stream into the space. Secondly, consider keeping the carport enclosed partially, so that a light breeze can blow through the carport rather than it being a fully enclosed hot box.

Get some outdoor furniture

A major mistake some people make is putting in a lot of effort to make their carport cosy, only to furnish it with mix and match furniture pieces under the impression that as long as there is seating all is well. However, if you are just using discarded furniture items they can easily detract from all the effort you have put into decorating. It is advisable to purchase outdoor furniture pieces that will not only complement the space but will also be resistant to the elements. Resin wicker is one option that will definitely boost the appeal of your transformed carport. 

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25 July 2018

Turning Your Home into Your Workplace

When I decided to become a freelance designer, I decided I would work from home. I was sick and tired of being in an office all day and to be honest, some of my workmates were pretty annoying. However, I did not consider that I might have to make some changes to my home in order to make it suitable. On the first day of my new life working from home, I realised I would need much more natural light, so I had new windows installed. I then realised that I would need a larger work table to work on my cut out designs. In the end, I made hundreds of changes and I learnt an awful lot about home improvement.