Welcome to a new year and, as it turns out, a new lockdown too. Things may seem a little bleak at the moment, but we hope that the rollout of the vaccine means we can see friends and family again before long. We might not get back to pre-Covid ‘normal’ before the end of the year, but we can certainly hope for some more sociable times again when the warmer weather arrives.
In the meantime, how can we stay positive? One of the things that here at CENA we’ve found helps us through the long and dark January evenings is having a project to focus on. Last spring, after the very first national lockdown was announced, people turned to home improvements and gardening to keep themselves occupied. Finally redecorating the living room or transforming a spare room into a home office were rewarding to tick off the list . Growing vegetables proved beneficial to our mental health and gave people something to do with their days. What could you plan and work on to help the time go by during this lockdown?
Our gardens and outdoor spaces became the heart of our social lives last year. For a long while in spring and summer we enjoyed warm, sunny weather. After a long day spent working at screens inside, cooking and relaxing outside was a welcome change of pace. Even once lockdown was lifted, social distancing and other restrictions meant it was far safer to welcome people to your garden than into your home. 2020 will certainly be remembered as the year when the gardens of the UK were more manicured and fuller than ever before. New seeds were planted and nurtured, patios and decking was laid and shops sold out of outdoor furniture, fire pits and BBQs. DIY and garden store Homebase said people invested £102 each in sprucing up their outdoor areas by June 2020, which added up to £5.4 billion across the county. Outdoor kitchens became more popular than ever before, as the benefits of a fridge, side burner, sink and running water alongside a grill enabled people to cook amazing alfresco meals.
So, perhaps a garden transformation could be the 2021 project you need? Turning your garden into an extension of your living space to give you and your family more space to relax and unwind. If you’re working from home, uggling home schooling and childcare too, it helps create a distinction between the working day and the evening. Plus, when we are allowed to see people from other households again, it could well be that we still have to stay socially distant. Entertaining outdoors means you can gather people but have the space to keep everyone safe. The addition of an outdoor kitchen means you can also still provide amazing food!
If you need a little support or guidance when you're dreaming up your new outdoor living space, we can help. Our team has years of experience designing outdoor kitchens and the spaces around them, and we know how to help you get the end result that you want. Don't forget we have plenty of blogs which help you decide where to place an outdoor kitchen or if you need a shelter. 2021 is set to be the year of the outdoor kitchen in the UK, so if you're keen to have one and would like our help, get in touch. It’s no secret that a high quality outdoor kitchen is a bigger investment than snapping up a new BBQ, but could this be the perfect year to get yours? Perhaps you’re saving on fuel and eating out costs at the moment and would love to spend that money on upscaling your outdoor space? Or perhaps you're not taking your annual trip to the Alps for some skiing and would like to invest that money in your enjoyment of the summer ahead? Whatever your motivation, make sure you chat to us soon - the design and build process can take anything from a month to 12 weeks. Drop us a line here.