Imagine a room with no windows. OK, unless it’s a book-lined library with a roaring fire, I’m guessing your imaginary room isn’t one we’d want to spend lots of time in?
We need a sense of the outside, air and light, to feel at ease in our homes so the views and access we create to our gardens, particularly in the wetter months, are vital for our wellbeing.
Large windows and sliding doors to accessible terrace areas do help create this blurring of boundaries. But views don’t have to be expansive to work best. The broadest sweeps need frames even more in order to slow and focus our attention, and sometimes the smallest window or doorway offers the most potent glimpse to tempt, tease, surprise or slow us down to appreciate, say, the twisting form of a tree trunk.
As long as our views are composed carefully, make us feel just a little closer to nature and that sense of precious light-filled space.
