Connecting an internal and external entertaining area of your home offers a number of benefits for homeowners. A single zone of which can be used for dining and welcoming guests to your home that is both inside and outside makes a really flexible space. You can entertain greater number of visitors if both sections of the home are used and create a more fluid space that is ideal for when you are inviting guests over to a barbecue or for an evening cocktail party. Of course, the primary way of connecting a reception room to your outdoor area is to install a door which opens widely. Bi-folding doors and sliding patio doors both work well for this purpose, as do French doors. However, your choice of flooring is just as crucial for the creation of a single entertaining space that connects through the interior and exterior. 

The Importance of Flooring 

If you have a glazed entrance way that can be opened in summer to connect your dining room or lounge to the garden, then you are already halfway to creating a single, integrated internal and external entertaining space in your home. However, there are some barriers to overcome. If the doorway has a step down to a patio area, for example, the two spaces feel distinctly different from one another. Furthermore, if your home has carpet laid down but the outside space has flooring that is made from another material, then the two zones end up feeling distinct from one another. Therefore, matching the heights of both spaces with suitable flooring that matches either side of the doorway is desirable for the integrated effect.

How to Connect the Inside to the Outside

One of the simplest ways of removing stepped access from the outside to the inside and vice versa, is to install timber decking outside of your doorway. Timber supplies companies can provide the necessary materials to create a deck on top of your patio that brings it to the same height as your home's floor level. If you don't have a patio in place already, then just obtain a few paving slabs from a building supplies firm on to which you can construct a deck. This is a good deal easier and cheaper than lowering the flooring in your home to meet the external level.

Secondly, it is advisable to install new flooring in your reception room that will make a visual connection with the new decking. Fitting hardwood flooring is preferable in rooms where there will be a lot of people coming in and out because it is durable underfoot. Alternatively, wood laminate flooring makes for a lower cost option which still looks great when it is installed side-by-side with a timber deck.