Image from Christmas Stock Images

It's less than a week until Christmas, and you've probably had your decorations up for at least a couple of weeks now. Sparkly tinsel wrapped around the banister; festive shapes hanging from the ceiling; the colourful cards from old friends; and, of course, a beautiful Christmas tree, decked out with dazzling decorations.

But while every home in the country is currently glowing with festive cheer, the gardens of Britain look decidedly less merry. Very few people bother with the garden when they're doing their Christmas decorating, and since December is a pretty cruel month for outdoor spaces anyway, your back yard probably doesn't look all that inviting right now.

So why not give it a makeover? A little decorative elbow grease will do wonders for your barren winter garden, turning into a cosy Christmas wonderland in no time.

Don't worry - you don't have to go to such topiarific lengths as this!

The festive period is very much in full swing, and there's still plenty of time left for you to decorate the garden and enjoy the results. Here are a few tips for the perfect Yuletide outdoor space...

Use tinsel, and lots of it!
Tinsel is perhaps the ultimate Christmas decoration, and its versatility makes it ideal for doing up the garden. Strew it anywhere it will stay - on branches, in between poles, wrapped around tree trunks, in amongst flowers...

Any tree can be a Christmas tree!
Very few UK gardens will contain a genuine pine or fir, but who says that they're the only trees that can be Christmas trees? If you've got a little sapling in your back garden, there's no reason why you can't decorate it with baubles and other ornaments.

Light it up!
Nothing will give your garden that warm glow like a set of fairy lights. If you can't find anywhere to plug them in, you can get battery-powered fairy lights that are much more versatile.

No matter how you decorate your home and garden this December, we hope you have a very merry Christmas indeed!

Porcelain Paving unsurprisingly specialises in supplying beautiful porcelain paving slabs to transform your home both inside and out, but we understand that occasionally people might like to take their designs that extra step to complete the look. Though our beautiful range of Out 2.0 porcelain tiles are the perfect finishing touch to both outdoor and indoor areas of the home, we strive to offer all we can to help our customers achieve their dream home.

 One of our additional decorative products is the option to insert a stunning Glass Balustrade System on to your patio. A balustrade is a series of reinforced glass panels connected by sleek stainless steel posts. When added to your porcelain paved patio, a glass balustrade can provide a stunning finish and air of sophistication to your home. As well as being aesthetically pleasing, a glass balustrade also doubles as a safety measure by fencing your patio or roof terrace in, which is so important if you have young children or simply wish to protect your home, in style of course!

Glass balustrades sit along the edge of your balcony, roof terrace or patio and frame the space in a chic and modern way. It can provide a stunning division between the grass and tiled area of your garden and offers a unique look to your garden.

At Porcelain Paving we can provide the perfect glass balustrade for your outdoor design and can even include a handrail with your glass balustrade system. Our glass panels are made with ultra-strong 10mm glass and corrosion-resistant stainless steel, so your stunning balustrade system will never lose its gorgeous appearance. Combined with your stain-resistant and scratch-resistant porcelain paving tiles, your outdoor space will be transformed into a haven of timeless beauty.

If you’d like more information about glass balustrade systems, our team are on hand to answer any questions on 029 2080 3756 or via email at info@primaporcelain.co.uk. 

Today is the 25th of November, which means that it’s precisely one month until Christmas day. If you haven’t already starting planning for the big day, it’s high time you started!

There’s plenty to do, of course. You’ll need to sort out the food, the decorations, and – if your relatives are coming to stay – the extra sleeping space. And then there’s the shopping; people will be expecting presents on Christmas morning, and you can’t let them down!

But what about the part after the shopping - where does your family congregate when it’s time to open the presents? In the living room, perhaps? Or maybe you exchange gifts in the dining room, after you’ve polished off Christmas dinner?

How about in the garden? If you’re lucky enough to have a gazebo or some other kind of sheltered area out the back, there’s a feast of festive fun just waiting to unfold in your outdoor space!  You’ll have to wrap up warm, obviously, but spending Christmas Day in your own personal winter wonderland can be a brilliant alternative to the usual practice of lounging around in front of the TV. Christmas trees look great outdoors, and keeping it out the back is a great way to prevent those pesky pine needles from cluttering up your carpet. Put the tree up where it’s safe from the elements, arrange the presents underneath it, and add some decorations to create your very own cosy Christmas grotto!

The problem, naturally, is that traditions die hard and that goes treble for Christmas traditions. If you’ve got a big routine that you follow every time the 25th of December rolls around – wake up, open presents, have lunch, spend the rest  of the day playing with presents/watching Christmas television/getting tipsy – then you might find it hard to loosen up and squeeze some garden time into your schedule. But the beauty of this idea is that you don’t have to make time – you could open your presents in the garden, have some hot mulled wine and a mince pie outside, and then retreat indoors for  business as usual from there on out. The warm glow of TV will feel even nicer when you’ve been outside in the cold immediately beforehand.

Photo by Lee Jordan

Oh, and just to make that Yuletide scene even more picturesque, there’s a real possibility that it will come with a layer of white icing on top. There’s a 20% likelihood of snowfall this Christmas – higher if you live north of Yorkshire - which means that you’ve got a 1 in 5 chance of having some fresh white powder to shuffle through en route to your Christmas grotto. Just imagine how good your patio will look: present-pregnant Christmas tree at the centre, colourful lights and tinsel strewn about the place, and snow all around it. How idyllic does that sound?

Christmas in the living room is fine, but Christmas in the garden could be truly magical. Give it a try, see how you like it, and if it’s not for you, you can always grab the presents, scurry inside, and enjoy the sight of your gorgeous garden through a window while sat in the relative warmth of your house. That won’t happen, though; do it right, and you’ll still be out in the back yard by Boxing Day!

So break with tradition and do something different this December. Tell your family that they’ll be opening their Christmas presents in the back garden this year, and cross your fingers for some snow to frolic in afterwards.

Decking and paving: two quality outdoor surfaces, two equally excellent options. Since we have experience of both, we are often asked which of the two materials is better for the garden.

As with most decisions like this, there isn't a single, objective answer that we can give. Both choices have their unique merits, and at the end of the day, it mostly comes down to preference.

With this in mind, one good approach to this decision is to think about what kind of effect you want from the finished project. Generally speaking, a paved area lends itself to a smooth, contemporary style, while the natural-looking wooden boards are better for the more traditional outdoor space.

Of course, there are exceptions; some deck products are designed to look rather modern, and certain paving slabs boast a timeless, classical air. The best thing to do is as follows: decide what you want from your outdoor space, consider how you would like it to look and feel, and proceed from there, investigating as many different colours and designs as possible to ensure that you get the right one.

Now, some people might tell you that there is a clear-cut winner in this battle. They might say that paving is better because timber boards need loads of maintenance; conversely, they might argue that paving should be avoided because it's difficult to install. But, in truth, very few of these factors present a problem nowadays.

Composite wood decking and porcelain paving are both very durable, very easy to manage, and most importantly, very low-maintenance. Furthermore, neither product is decisively dearer; you’ll find a mix of cheap, low-quality products and more expensive high-end items in both markets. Whether you’re shopping for paving slabs or deck boards, you’ll get what you pay for.

This is good news. With those mitigating factors all but eliminated, you are free to forget about the specifications and concentrate on the design you want for your dream outdoor space. With no maintenance to worry about and very little difference in price or performance, decking and paving are both brilliant choices for the garden, and it’s entirely up to you which is better for your project.

Of course, you could always just do what Lee from Cardiff did and use them both!

One of the best things about the internet - and social media websites in particular - is the astounding ease with which budding designers can now find and share good ideas. Everybody's tweeting about their new-look living room, pinning pictures of their gorgeous new garden, and selling their upcycled furniture creations on Etsy. No matter what kind of project you're working on, inspiration is never more than a few clicks away.

We at PrimaPorcelain couldn't resist getting in on the sharing game. You'll find us on all the major social media platforms, but we have to say that we're especially besotted with Pinterest at the moment. We're particularly proud of our Garden Ideas board, packed as it is with inspiring little treats that we've collected from around the web. Here's a small sample of what we've come across...

Source: Completely Coastal

If you grow your own vegetables, you'll most likely want to use markers to remind yourself of which patch is which. These seaside-themed markers have been painted a beautiful, beachy blue colour and decorated with seashells and starfish shapes. Take a trip to your local rock pool and see what you can find!

Source: Hannah Tomlinson

There are loads of unusual flower containers to be found on our Garden Ideas board, but this image is a little different, using traditional pots but displaying them in an original way. An old wooden stepladder makes it easy to create eye-catching arrangements, and it looks attractively rustic in its own right! 

Source: The Berry 

Still, if you want the container itself to be quirky and cool, how about this image? It encapsulates an 'anything goes' approach to planting, using boxes, baskets, ornate drawers, and even a hollowed-out acoustic guitar as planters!

Source: Porcelain Paving

Okay, we'll admit to being a little self-centred here. This photo is taken from our very own website, but in our defence, this is a pretty great garden idea - matching your outdoor space to the look of your indoor space is sure to yield sensational results!

We're very keen on creating beautiful, unique gardens here at PrimaPorcelain - that's why we're so attached to our porcelain garden paving, and that's why you should follow us on Pinterest if you like original garden ideas.