the levels garden (Honor Oak Park)

Seamless Indoor-Outdoor Flow

The clients felt disconnected from their backyard due to a poor upper patio and dangerous steep steps leading to their garden.

The jarring grade change made venturing into the garden feel like a chore rather than a joy.

They wanted to feel like the outdoor space flowed as one from their patio doors - a space equally welcoming for lounging with morning coffee, hosting barbecues and working from home.

I designed generous steps from the backdoor out, an upper patio with views down (perfect for a morning cup of tea in the sun). Then I added wide, light, concrete-look steps terraced across the slope. The steps create a stunning visual draw with planting pockets, a gentle descent outdoors and additional seating when friends come to play.

The custom planters in rusty corten steel form a safety barrier that is low enough to allow the eye to easily reach the lower levels.

The light palette plus rusty hues are naturalistic keeps the steps looking crisp against the mixed planting.

The clients are thrilled with how the new steps solved issues of access, safety and flow. Their garden feels like a natural extension of the home's style.