Three Excellent Flooring Options for Your Outside Dining Area
If you're planning to create an outdoor dining area, then you'll likely want to install some flooring. This provide a solid surface for garden furniture, creates a visually distinct area in your garden, and is much more durable and practical than simply dining on an area of grass, which may become faded, uneven, or slippery. There's loads of choice when it comes to outdoor flooring, and three of the best options are listed below. Choosing any of these types of floor coverings will create an attractive and functional surface that will serve you well for years to come.
Timber decking
Timber decking is a great option if you want to create a dining area right outside your back door. The raised boards will create the feel of transitioning from your home into an 'outdoor room' that's still part of the building. Decking provides a strong, solid surface for garden tables and chairs, and can be customized with lights—perfect if you enjoy dining outdoors in the evening. Lights can be set into the decking itself, showing you where the edges are and preventing accidents, or attached to the top of a fence which goes around the edge of your deck, providing plenty of light. If your garden is quite flat, then a raised deck is a great way to add some depth and visual interest.
Decorative gravel
Using gravel is one of the simplest ways to create an outdoor dining area, but it doesn't need to look plain. You can choose stones in a wide variety of colours and shapes to create some really unique looks. Pale red or tan can make a nice change from grey and create a warm feel. For an extra, decorative touch, purchase a few stones engraved with words and scatter these around your dining area. They're a lovely item for guests to stumble upon and will turn your dining area from simple to special. Gravel is really easy to maintain—all you'll need to do is rake over it occasionally to keep the distribution of the stones even.
Stone tiles
Stone tiles are a wonderful choice if you're looking for a really unique design. They're available in an almost endless range of colours and shapes, so they can be a real feature of your garden. Stone tiles can be used to provide a similar effect to concrete, but are more durable. Any damage to stone tiles will usually involve replacing a single stone or tile, rather than an entire section of concrete. This makes them ideal for areas that will see a lot of foot traffic, which is often the case in outdoor dining areas.