The terrace as additional living space

Zones instead of one seating group

Indoors, a distinction between eating and sitting is taken for granted; outdoors, it rarely is. Yet that is exactly the difference between a terrace that gets used and one where you eat and then go back inside.

Two zones are enough: a dining area and a lower area for sitting. Even on a few square metres both can be accommodated if the seating area stays small – two armchairs and a low table are enough.

The difference in height between the two zones matters more than the area. A dining area works with an upright sitting posture, a lounge area with a lower seat and a back that reclines further. Anyone who sets up both at the same height gets two dining tables side by side and wonders why the second area is never used.

Away from the wall

Lining furniture up against the house wall is the same mistake outdoors as indoors. If you move the seating group in a little and turn it towards the view instead of the façade, you get a room out of the same area.

An outdoor rug or a change in floor covering marks the zone without anything having to be built.

It also helps to have a backrest that is not the house wall: a group of plants, a tall vessel, a trellis. Seats feel more sheltered when something stands behind your back – outdoors just as indoors. Chairs standing freely in the open, on the other hand, usually stay empty, even if the view from there would be the best.

Light below eye level

The most common mistake outdoors is a bright floodlight on the house wall. It dazzles, casts hard shadows and makes the evening look like a lit-up building site.

What works is light at a low height: candles on the table, a light on the ground, light near plants. For candles outdoors, a vessel that shelters the flame from the wind is worth having – borosilicate glass is suitable for this, because it expands less with heat than ordinary soda-lime glass and therefore copes better with temperature differences. That is exactly what matters outdoors, where a warm flame and a cool draught or a raindrop can meet directly.

For electric lights outdoors, the stated protection rating tells you whether a model is only protected against splashing water or can also withstand heavy rain. A covered spot is less demanding than an open terrace, and anything that stays outside over the winter should be designed for constant wet.

What can really stay outside

The difference between weatherproof and permanently outdoors is greater than product descriptions suggest. Weatherproof often only means: survives a rain shower. Permanently outdoors means: survives wet, frost, UV radiation and the constant change between damp and dry.

Teak withstands the weather through its natural oil content, which protects the wood against moisture from within and at the same time makes it unattractive to fungi and insects. Outdoors it weathers over time to a silvery grey: UV radiation breaks down the lignin in the uppermost cell layers, and the cellulose left behind appears grey. That is not damage but a surface change that reaches only fractions of a millimetre deep and does not affect the strength of the wood. To keep the warm tone, re-oil once a year, or twice in strong sunlight.

Cement withstands sun and rain; it only becomes critical when a water-saturated piece freezes through. Water expands when it freezes and then bursts the material from within, usually along edges and base rims where moisture collects. With cement objects it is worth checking the material information to see whether they are approved for outdoor use – mix, density and sealing decide how much water can get in at all.

Limestones such as travertine should not stay outdoors. They are porous, absorb water and react sensitively to acid rain, which chemically dissolves the lime and leaves the surface dull and rough; add frost, and whole layers flake off. Gypsum minerals such as selenite are even more sensitive: gypsum is water-soluble, which is why even persistent moisture clouds the clear crystal faces and rain actually dissolves them.

For anything that is not clearly an outdoor material, it helps to look at the labelling. If an object is marked as an indoor item, there is usually a concrete reason behind it: bonds that come apart when wet, coatings that become brittle under UV radiation, or metal parts without corrosion protection. This information is more reliable than the visual impression, because many materials look more robust than they are.

What gets brought in for the winter

For the cold season a simple rule of thumb applies: anything that absorbs water overwinters dry. Porous materials such as unglazed ceramic, terracotta or open-pored natural stone soak up water in autumn, and the freezing water bursts them from within. The crack often only shows in spring, although the damage was done in December.

Anything that has to stay outdoors is raised onto small feet so that no moisture is drawn up from below, and covered or turned upside down so that no rain collects in it. A dry, frost-free place is still the better solution: overwintered dry, things last considerably longer than many assume.

Textiles make the difference

What distinguishes a terrace from a furniture-store set-up is soft materials: cushions, a blanket for cool evenings, a rug. They are brought in in the evening or put in a chest – that is the effort, and it is worth it.

Not every fabric is suitable for this. Fabrics for outdoor use are mostly solution-dyed, meaning the pigment sits in the fibre and not just on it; such textiles fade considerably more slowly under UV radiation. Cotton and linen feel more pleasant but lose colour quickly outdoors, dry slowly and tend to develop mildew spots in persistent damp. With an outdoor rug, it also matters that water can run through it and the underside does not stick to the surface.

Without textiles every terrace stays hard, no matter how good the furniture is.